A Future Shaped by the Past
by trusuprise
Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come. HarukaMichiru
1. Prologue

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Preface  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

'_It's been centuries since I last used my voice. I'm afraid I might forget about you. Then again, I'd likely forget my own name and identity before I forget that of my only lover's. _

_But it's been so long since… since then._

_You said we'd be together for all eternity. You were wrong, Michiru._

_So wrong.'_

-Sailor Uranus, Silver Millennium


	2. 1: The Woman Your Soul Remembers

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 1: The Woman Your Soul Remembers  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Everyone does a Silver Millennium fic at some point, and this is my humble contribution. It was inspired by Saun's fic, 'Sayonara', and as an answer to the question of why Uranus is not seen floating away to be reincarnated with the others at the fall of the Silver Millennium.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

A scream.

The sound of Kaioh Michiru's own voice woke her with a violent start. Her slight form bolted upright, her aqua hair damp and clinging to her sweaty face. Her down comforters were sprawled about the foot of her decorative bed as though she had fought off some unknown horror in her sleep. Still trying to catch her breath, the teenaged girl tried to grasp the broken fragments of quickly dispersing memories as the sketchy recollection of her dream faded into nothingness. Already, her mind couldn't remember what had frightened her so.

Leaning back into the solace of her pillows, she sighed wearily. Exhaustion taking its toll on her, she relaxed as her pale skin cooled and her heart rate finally slowed to its resting beat. The chill of the early spring night drifted through the open windows of her apartment and she shuddered in response.

Powerless to fight off the temptation of slumber, sleep once again claimed the cobalt eyed girl. Only this time, the vague nightmare images that threatened to plague her were held at bay by the image of a blonde haired woman.

_flashback _

_Her familiar giggle on her lips, the young woman darted away from her assailant. Looking back over her shoulder, she teased the blonde that followed behind her with a knowing wink before taking off down the stone hallway, her bare feet slapping the smooth stone floor underneath her._

_Her partner wasn't long in catching up and the sound of her formal boots clacking on the hard surface beneath her feet quickly caught up to her partner's ears. The cobalt eyed woman hadn't expected to be faster than the wind, but the excitement of being caught by her was nonetheless intense. Strong arms captured her from behind and her knees buckled underneath her at the sensation of the other woman's breath in her ear._

"_Michiru…"_

_Hearing her own name whispered hotly by her partner sent chills running down her spine. The aqua haired woman gasped as she was suddenly spun to face her partner and then gently, yet firmly pushed back into a stone wall as she was passionately kissed by the taller woman._

"_Haruka." Michiru's breath became her partner's own as she moaned the wind senshi's name into her mouth. The Neptunian woman's actions became bolder as her hands began to wander, drifting from Haruka's collarbone, across the swell of her small breasts, to her waist and down her thighs. The Uranian responded with a sharp gasp as the smaller woman's fingertips finally dragged sensuously along her inner thighs._

_As her lips found Michiru's slender neck, the senshi of the wind pinned her partner to the unforgiving wall, the coolness of its surface failing to cool the heat of their skin. The other woman shuddered as the taller woman's teeth grazed her sensitive flesh and her hands wandered slowly, yet deliberately across the smaller woman's body. The scent of the senshi of the ocean intoxicated Haruka as her hands ran up Michiru's rib cage and softly brushed against her breasts._

_Michiru gasped at the sensation and when she pushed herself further into Haruka's inviting body, she was pleased to find that her partner redoubled her efforts. The blonde's strong hands caressed and kneaded Michiru's ample breasts, the thin toga-like gown she wore only a scant barrier to Haruka's fingertips. The senshi of the ocean hitched a leg up around Haruka's waist as she unconsciously ground into her partner, seeking to ease the passion that raged within._

_The sound of graceful footfalls suddenly echoed in the hallway and the two women froze, Michiru's leg still around Haruka and the blonde's hand still firmly on Michiru's breast, their lips still locked together. Their senses reached out for the source of the intrusion and they froze even more, each holding their breath once they detected the approaching presence of their friend and ally. Knowing that they'd be seen should they move, the two stood like statues in the shadows of the dark corridor as the figure passed them by silently before reaching the end of the hallway and turning down the next. Thinking they were safe, slowly, the two let out soft giggles and gentle sighs of relief._

"_Get a room." The figure's abrupt voice carried boldly from the next hallway whimsically after waiting for the right moment to reveal the obvious._

_Haruka and Michiru blushed hotly at the voice of Setsuna. They should have known better than to try to fool the Guardian of Time. _

_Michiru giggled. She fully intended to take her friend's advice. A sensual smile on her lips, she grabbed Haruka's hand and quickly pulled her down the hallway. _

_They stopped at Michiru's door, the senshi of the wind fumbling with the complexities of the doorknob under the influence of her partner's seductive ministrations. Finally having opened it, she stumbled through the entryway, never separating her lips from the senshi of the ocean's own. Before she could even close the door behind them, Michiru slid Haruka's traveling coat from her shoulders. _

_The pile of clothes thrown to the mercy of the floor grew rapidly and the partners soon found themselves sprawled across the senshi of the ocean's bed. Streaming in from the ancient vaulted windows, the gentle light of the blue orb that hung in the sky painted their skin in soft hues as the two women intimately learned each other's bodies for the first time._

_Michiru's back arched to meet Haruka's body as the taller woman's hands hungrily ran through her hair, across her shoulders, along her ribs, gripping her hips. Their whispered voices echoed off the bedroom's stone walls as the silken sheets, no longer cool to the touch, stuck to their sweat covered bodies._

_It wasn't long before Michiru's breath caught in her throat and she screamed her lover's name._

_/ flashback _

'_Her_ name?'

Michiru's cobalt eyes snapped open as a lifetime of memories flashed through her mind. The intrigue of an initial meeting with the hazel eyed woman, a growing friendship, budding love, undeniable passion, a sense of duty, and a painful and wrongful end lay just beyond the reaches of her imaginings. In the span of a second's time, the intense emotions of an entire lifetime flooded her and then suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Finally jolted fully awake, Michiru sat upright in her bed. Her shaking fingers touched her lips, still feeling the phantom warmth left by the ghostly apparition of love while the vivid images of the dream she still clung to continued to grip her waking mind. She was again in a sweat, only this sweat was quite unlike the one caused by her previous nightmare. A blush tinged her cheeks as she realized the depth of her arousal.

The cobalt eyed girl panicked as the memories of her dream also began to fade. She shook her head as her fingers found her temples. With disturbing clarity, she realized that the dream she had experienced and the emotions associated with it were something she wanted to hold on to, something she _needed_ to remember. It was the most intense dream she had ever had. Almost more than a dream, it had felt so real that it had seemed a memory. Only it certainly wasn't a memory that Michiru had remembered in her entire fifteen years. Could it have been a memory of a forgotten past life? Michiru wasn't sure. She certainly hadn't recognized the alien surroundings at all. It was almost as if the location of her dream hadn't even been on Earth to begin with…

But she knew she had dreamt as herself, and she was sure she had been with a woman. She could remember the tall woman's short blonde hair, captivating hazel eyes, and her caring and passionate personality. But most chillingly, she remembered the depth of love that that woman felt for her, and the love she felt in return for her as though she had felt it all her life.

Perhaps even longer.

Somehow, Michiru knew she had to find her. That the vision she had experienced had been some sort of sign, and that if her phantom lover actually existed in this life as she did herself, then maybe that captivating blonde haired woman was _waiting_ for her to find her. Certainly, that might be the case. She had some kind of duty to fulfill with her… and _to_ her.

Michiru was sure of it.

Only, what was that woman's name, and where had they been? Could it really have been… another life? But how could that be possible? To Michiru's dismay, the vividness of the dream slipped through her fingers like so many grains of sand.

When the aqua haired girl finally surrendered to sleep again, regardless of the effort she applied to finding her dream woman a second time, her dreams were silent.

* * *

A pillow flew mercilessly across her sparsely decorated apartment as a blonde haired girl thrashed violently in her sleep. Sweat gathered on Tenoh Haruka's brow as she mumbled incoherencies, her fists balled tightly in defiance. She'd had this dream, this nightmare before, but she was powerless to stop it…

_dream _

_Her hazel eyes stared wildly, her body frozen in fear as she gawked at the black and red vortex that swirled in front of her. Swallowing, eating, devouring everything around her, this terror that she intuitively knew as the Silence raged with the power of a super nova. Buildings crumbled and fell into so much rubble only to be sucked into its core. Searing hot winds emanated from its center, the winds of hell itself. Inanimate objects were pulled into a hellish tornado, debris filling the air, yet her tall, slim form stood rooted to the ground as though her fear itself was heavier than gravity. And all she could do was stand and watch. An insignificant being in the midst of an unknown chaos._

_This dream world was a hell beyond all imagination._

_Yet in the depths of her heart, even as she faced this terror inside of her own mind, Haruka knew this was not a dream. And the realization that she might be seeing her own future frightened the stoic girl even more._

_If the images of a collapsing future weren't hellish enough, that of what she saw next was no less terrifying. _

_An orange halo surrounded an aqua haired girl. Her hands clasped together, her eyes were squinted shut. She glowed with a power that Haruka somehow understood. She needed help. _Her_ help. Her mysterious cobalt eyes opened and a slight smile touched her lips as she gazed at Haruka's form. Her hair billowed in a gentle breeze so unlike the winds of hell that threatened to tear her apart in the world of the Silence. _

_The woman's beauty captivated Haruka. She felt an intangible pull to this startlingly familiar woman. Duty, yes, but there was something more, something stronger, and the emotions of the two combined were all too frightening. The woman's knowing gaze confirmed Haruka's suspicion that they shared more than just allegiance to their unnamed mission._

_Haruka wanted to run. Run from the promise of battle, run from a dying future, run from the woman who stood before her. Yet she couldn't take her eyes off her exquisite form. Intuitively, she knew the woman's name was Neptune, though she had never learned such information from her dreams. She could have been an angel were it not for the horrible duty that lay hidden behind her cobalt eyes. _

"_The Silence is approaching."_

_Haruka frowned. Neptune's voice was a siren's whose beauty was betrayed by the promise of obligation. This siren wanted to pull her into this hopeless world, work with her in this hell, stop this Armageddon from its approach. _

"_We have to find the Messiah quickly. Only you and I can do this."_

_Haruka's frown became a grimace as the desperation and pleading in the woman's voice squeezed her soul like a vice, as though the emotions that carried in her mournful tone somehow transcended the convoluted duty heralded by the dream world. Haruka shook her head in defiance. She wasn't good enough for this strangely familiar woman. She would let her down, she knew she would, as if she had done so once already lifetimes ago. Somehow Haruka inexplicably felt that she couldn't live up to Neptune's expectations._

_She wanted nothing to do with this woman. She wasn't a warrior. She didn't have the ability to save the world from impending destruction, and furthermore, she didn't want the duty that entailed. She was powerless to stop this possible future and she was powerless to ease the strange loneliness in that familiar woman's eyes. Somehow, Haruka felt that she couldn't be the person the woman of her dream wanted her to be. That something, some tragedy, had changed who she was meant to be for her._

_And it was overwhelming._

_A scream tore through her throat in a desperate effort to push the image of the cobalt eyed woman out of her mind._

_/dream _

Her voice echoed in her ears as Haruka sat up, relieved to be awake and out of the clutches of that terrible reoccurring nightmare.

"Nightmare." She spat the word, willing it to be true. But somehow, she knew it was more than that, that the visions were more than just dreams. Perhaps she was seeing the future…

A chill ran down her spine as, unsolicited, the image of the aqua haired woman's elegance returned to her mind. As though her figure was burned into her retina, Haruka couldn't shake the image of beauty.

More so now that wakefulness had veiled the truths of her dream, Haruka didn't know exactly why she was so scared of the unnamed woman, why every fiber of her being wanted to both run from her and stand by her side for all eternity at the same time. But the immense devastation that accompanied the very thought of the aqua haired woman choked her. She had never in her life even seen her before, yet she was familiar to Haruka's very soul, bringing both sensations of peace and comfort, along with fear and loathing at her very image.

As her dream faded into vague senses, shapes and forgotten words, all Haruka knew was that somewhere, something had gone wrong.

The clock read three in the morning, but regardless of the time, the blonde haired girl picked up her running shoes and headed for the door.

* * *

Knowing garnet eyes slowly faded from the mortal plane as the guardian of time retreated from her watch over the two destined girls. Slowly, her consciousness returned to her body that waited at her post at the Time Gate.

She sighed at her familiar surroundings. She could have been standing there staring at that door for hours or eons, it wouldn't have felt any longer. Such was the nature of time when one existed outside of its bounds.

The mists of time surrounded the majestic sapphire haired woman that was Sailor Pluto, her resigned expression tightening as she focused on the gray film that covered the portal to veil its contents. On its other side, where moments ago was revealed the apartments of Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru, now lay the ruins of what was once the Moon Palace after the fall of the Silver Millennium almost a thousand years past.

With the ability to see any point in time, past, present, or future, Sailor Pluto found that, always, her memories led her back to this lonely and forsaken place.

Lonely. She hadn't known what it was to be truly lonely until her Queen had forced her to know friendship. Sometimes, she wondered if her duty would have been easier had she never been granted those three short years on the mortal plane at all during the Silver Millennium. Those years that she had made the best of friends had made her solitary duty that much more unbearable.

But no, Pluto could never regret the time she spent with her allies, Haruka and Michiru, Uranus and Neptune. Even for as painful as the loss of their friendship was, they had taught her much, and she was forever grateful to them and for them.

Before she had met the senshi of the wind and the senshi of the ocean, during her many ages of service to her Queen, Pluto had been even more withdrawn and aloof, always struggling with mortal situations due to a lack of understanding the complexities of human interactions. A few millennia at the Time Gate could do that to a person.

But those two women had changed her. And now, in the present, with the looming threat of a battle that required the skill of the outer senshi to join the already awakened inners, Pluto was eager to reawaken her age old friends. Even though the rebirth of their plight was ordained by duty, the rebirth of their love was ordained by destiny, and it would still be a relief to be reunited with those she loved.

Pluto was lonely, yes. But she knew that the pain and loneliness that the reincarnated Haruka and Michiru felt without each other was even greater. For they had once found love in each other and without the other half of their souls, surely their hearts mourned for the presence of the other.

They had once found love, and ultimately, love was greater than any other binding force. Their destiny and duty required Neptune and Uranus to fight along side each other, but it was love that kept their human personalities together, and Pluto wanted nothing more than to join them together again, not only for the necessity of their senshi powers, but for their own souls. But she knew that it would be more difficult this time around.

The portal before the tall woman once again came to life, erasing the silent catastrophe that had previously been the ruins of the Moon Palace and once again it returned to the image of her two reincarnated friends. Michiru, with the destiny of the ocean senshi, tossed and turned in a light, dreamless sleep, a murmur of an unrecognized name on her lips. The empathic young woman, so similar to her persona of the Silver Millennium, doubtlessly pined for her yet unknown lover. Meanwhile, Haruka, with the destiny of the wind senshi, ran aimlessly down the darkened streets of Tokyo, a perpetual scowl marring her features. Scared, hesitant, and bearing little resemblance to her original incarnation, she saw everything through a smoked lens warped and distorted from a terrible tragedy that should never have occurred at the fall of the Silver Millennium.

Pluto sighed. Fate had returned their souls to the Earth as their Queen had long ago foretold, but how would they ever find each other again when destiny had corrupted one of them so terribly? The Guardian of Time herself could almost curse the fates for what they had done.

"Michiru." Pluto whispered sadly, a hint of hopelessness lacing her ageless voice. "Will you even recognize Haruka when you see her again for the first time? I fear she is no longer the woman your soul remembers."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to my KS and beta, YoukaiMusashi. She's put up with my fics since Corporate Deception: Fate of Her Land… thanks girl!

As stated earlier, this fic is my contribution to the 'What Happened at the end of the Silver Millennium' theory. It was inspired by Saun's fic, 'Sayonara', and as an answer to the question of why Uranus is not seen floating away to be reincarnated with the others at the fall of the Silver Millennium. It is also my first Sailor Moon fic.

Right now, the going is slow as backgrounds are revealed, but stick with me, as plot and action will speed up soon. I'm aiming for about ten chapters to top this story off and most of it is ready to go. Generally my chapters are longer than this one, but this new writing style has been a refreshing change for me.

Constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and all reviews are more than welcome. My knowledge of all things Sailor Moon is admittedly not perfect, and this is a creation of my own, so I'm sure there will be inconsistencies with the anime and the manga.

* * *

Preview, Chapter 2:

_The aqua haired woman played with her partner's feathery blonde bangs thoughtfully. "Haruka?" She asked, loosing herself in her lover's deep gaze._

"_Hmm?" The Uranian replied lazily, her arm underneath Michiru's waist tightening slightly around her slender form._

"_We'll always be together, won't we?" Michiru asked, a blush coloring her cheeks at such an uncharacteristic question._


	3. 2: I'll Find You First

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 2: I'll Find You First  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

The scream of the motorcycle as it blew by the aqua haired girl imprinted itself into her memory. 

Not usually one for motor sports, Michiru found herself intrigued by the high risk game the drivers played on the track. Their machines no more than a metal extension of their own bodies, they raced the bikes at break neck speeds and bent them until they almost touched the unforgiving pavement as they roared around the corners. There was just something about speeding recklessly into the wind's welcoming embrace that struck a chord in the young woman.

Through the sound of her companion's inane chattering from the seat next to her, Michiru found that her cobalt eyes tended to linger on a single figure, the race's leader. Her brow furrowed as she examined the object of her attention's slender form, slightly smaller than those of the pursuers that chased after the bike that held the pole position. Beneath the fireproof suit, the slim form almost seemed feminine. The leader's features were hidden from view by a helmet, but somehow, Michiru envisioned that person's face.

_flashback _

"_We shouldn't be here." Michiru said conspiratorially, the act of resting her head on her lover's shoulder belying her warning._

_The sandy haired woman chuckled underneath her. "A seven day training tour around the outer reaches of our solar system? No one will notice that we've stopped at Triton for an evening's break." _

_Lying on her stomach in the long, aqua marine grasses of the Neptunian moon, Michiru leaned up on her elbows, her bare legs unhindered by her short, light skirt as they swayed back and forth in the cool air. She smiled wistfully as she noticed that the bright cheerfulness of the wildflowers that crowded the field were insufficient to distract her from her lover's face. _

_Deep green eyes and a questioning expression on Haruka's angled profile wordlessly asked Michiru to speak her mind._

_The aqua haired woman played with her partner's feathery blonde bangs thoughtfully. "Haruka?" She asked, loosing herself in her lover's deep gaze._

"_Hmm?" The Uranian replied lazily, her arm underneath Michiru's waist tightening slightly around her slender form._

"_We'll always be together, won't we?" Michiru asked, a blush coloring her cheeks at such an uncharacteristic question._

_Haruka frowned. Her partner was not the type to question the love they shared and she was slightly put off by her lover's uncertainty. "Of course we will, our duty assures our togetherness!" The blonde's jaw clenched shut as she realized the brashness of her retort. She had meant to ease Michiru's worries that much more than duty bound them together, but it was too late to retract her words._

_Michiru smiled smally, knowing her lover was apt to overreact when she felt threatened. She knew Haruka had meant to say something much different, but she didn't need such an explanation to understand how she felt. She laid a soft palm on Haruka's smooth cheek in reassurance. "I meant in our next lifetimes."_

_The frown the senshi of the wind had adopted melted slowly. "We don't have to worry about next lives, Michiru. As senshi we're granted long lives unless we were to die in battle." _

_Haruka's brows suddenly met menacingly as her own words registered in her mind. Her body stiffened with worry. If Michiru were to worry about death, there must be a reason for it. "Wait, you're still sensing unease from the Earth again, aren't you? Do you sense something new?" _

_Michiru's cobalt eyes glanced away from her lover. Now clouded and distant, she had begun to retreat to her own introverted world. "No. Not even Setsuna can pinpoint the unease from that planet."_

_Haruka turned to her side, fully embracing Michiru in her strong arms, drawing her partner back to her both physically and mentally. "Don't worry, Michiru. No matter what, we'll always be together. Even in the next life, if there even _is_ a next life at all. No matter how long it takes, I'll find you."_

_The senshi of the ocean sighed softly, allowing her lover to soothe her worries and allowing herself to bask in the wave of honest emotion she felt from her. A smile tugged at her lips and her eyes lit brightly. "And if you can't find me, then I'll find you first!" _

_/flashback _

"I'll find you first…" Michiru repeated her own words softly.

"Earth to Michiru?" Her companion's voice broke into her mind and Michiru realized she was being shaken slightly. "Did you say something?"

"Ara! I'm sorry, Elza." Michiru almost whispered, her quiet voice lost to the cheers of the crowd around her. The importance of the vivid images of her apparent daydream shattered to the mercy of her sudden alertness. A quick glance to the racetrack revealed that the figure she had been following earlier had won the race.

"Isn't she great?" Elza clapped happily, enthusiasm shining brightly in her crimson eyes. "She goes to my school. She's the genius racer, Tenoh Haruka."

"_She?_" Michiru asked, realizing her original assumption of the racer's gender had been correct.

"Yeah, she. The tabloids assume that Haruka is a man, but she doesn't seem to mind." Elza explained.

"_Tenoh Haruka_…" Michiru repeated the name slowly as though it were somehow familiar, her voice too quiet to be heard as Elza shouted with the rest of the spectators.

Standing on her tiptoes to get a better vantage point, Michiru's cobalt eyes singled out the feminine figure she had been watching as the racer approached the podium. The figure possessed a cocky, arrogant stride that was almost mannish and a gloved hand waved confidently to the crowds that cheered for the win. Climbing the podium to the winner's block, the racer gracefully removed the helmet that concealed a hidden identity.

Michiru's breath caught in her throat at the vision of a blonde haired woman. An angular face and high cheekbones, a look that easily conveyed a false gender, Tenoh Haruka displayed a cocky and defiant expression as she waved to her fans. Damp, dirty blonde hair whose shortness did not make her immune to helmet head caused her sandy locks to stick out at odd angles, yet it only increased the woman's attractiveness…

Michiru couldn't help but notice that she was captivated by Haruka's beauty.

The remembrance of her visions and dreams slammed back into her like a tangible force and Michiru found that her hand came to rest on top of her heart. The similarity was startling between the Haruka on the podium and the blonde woman she had imagined. Could this Haruka possibly be the same vague woman from her memory-like dreams?

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that her heart knew who this person was, but her mind couldn't place where she could have met her before. Like a forgotten word hanging from the tip of her tongue, Michiru couldn't connect the pieces of the frustrating puzzle that formed at the edge of her mind.

The hairs on the back of the aqua haired girl's neck stood on end and suddenly feeling eyes on her, Michiru went on full alert. She whipped her head back to look behind her, her eyes squinting threateningly as she scanned the rows of the stadium for the unknown threat. From the furthest reaches of the top row of the stands, Michiru was met with a pair of haunting garnet eyes.

_flashback _

"_Yes. I think you should do it." The tall woman spoke with certainty as her knowing garnet eyes warmed even the darkness of the night that closed in around them. _

"_Do what?" Michiru asked slowly, brows furrowed. Used to being the intuitive one, she was always thrown off when her friend, the Guardian of Time, knew what was on her mind. _

"_Confess to Haruka." Setsuna clarified plainly, as though the thought were an every day occurrence or at the very least, something that should have been done long ago. A smile graced her enigmatic face as she laid a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder. "I think you should do it. You love her, don't you?" _

_Michiru's jaw hung open slackly and a sudden blush tinged her cheeks. A serious, heart-felt dedication rippled through her and a drawn expression chiseled tight lines on her face. "I do. So much that I would _die_ for her, Setsuna."_

_Setsuna shivered despite herself as the intensity of Michiru's emotions caught her off guard and the stoic guardian of the Time Gate found she couldn't meet Michiru's eyes. With an expertise born from centuries of controlling her power to see the future, she pushed away the images that her friend's words had brought her. Images that proved Michiru's dedication to be frighteningly true._

_/flashback _

"Michiru? Michiru?"

Elza's voice once again tore the cobalt eyed woman from another sudden day dream and she shuddered despite the warm sun. She afforded the red head next to her a small smile to calm her worries, but when Michiru turned back to find those haunting garnet eyes that had sparked more vivid images, she found nothing.

Michiru's mind wandered back to the remembered fragments of images she'd seen in the past days. For mere daydreams, they had been startlingly vivid. Daydreams? No. They couldn't have been. Each time she had experienced one, they had been sparked by something. A vision? Perhaps. She was clearly seeing a defined event that had happened to herself at some point in time. Possibly it was reality, if it were a reality of a previous life.

A previous life…

Michiru's almost otherworldly sense of intuition gripped her firmly and the knowledge that her visions were memories of a past life was suddenly all too clear to her. Willing to accept that these strange memory-like visions were as much a part of herself as her own soul, Michiru concluded that they weren't dreams at all.

And if they weren't dreams, and they had been awakened by Tenoh Haruka, the woman standing boldly below her, unaware of her presence, did that mean that _this_ Haruka was the reincarnation of her lover of a past life? Haruka… that _had_ been her name, hadn't it? That of the woman in her memories.

Could it be destiny, or was their similarity a mere coincidence?

Yet as Michiru finally remembered to breathe and she focused on the woman on the podium who had drawn her full attention in the first place, a feeling of wrongness settled over her. Suddenly, she realized that for all the confidence that Tenoh Haruka's body displayed, the young woman's frightened hazel eyes told another story.

A shiver ran down Michiru's spine as a phantom realization gripped her. Her memories of the warm and willing lover she had been with in her previous life betrayed the image of the hardened woman who stood on the podium. If this Tenoh Haruka really _was_ the same woman from her visions of an uncertain past, then something had gone terribly wrong.

* * *

"Hey, Tenoh, you just won the race! Would it kill you to crack a smile?" 

Immune to the flashes of the photographer's cameras as the media crowded for the podium shot, Haruka's eyes brightened. A grin pulled at her lips as she shrugged off the smack on her back she received from Tanaka, an opponent who had trailed her closely the entire race to come in second. Punching him in the arm, she attempted a genuine smile to get him off her case, but it soon fell from her lips and her automatic cocky grin once again took its place.

It wasn't that she didn't know how to have fun or how to be happy, it was just that Haruka had never been predisposed to cheerfulness. She'd had a mediocre life with an above average upbringing, yet for all her fifteen years, Haruka had lived under a dark and quiet cloud of introversion. It was just who she was, and she was all right with that. She had never before questioned it. Yet since the haunting dreams of the end of the world had begun occurring, the shadow that had been cast over her mind had darkened further.

She scanned the stadium, packed with cheering fans, both of motorcycle racing and of herself. Although the persona of the handsome playboy racer that had been applied to her hadn't been completely true, it was just easier to let the public run with it. In all honesty, the raving fans that wanted nothing more than to get her autograph or meet her in person was the last thing that interested her. Sure, the girls were cute, and Haruka had to admit that she'd used her fame to have a little fun with more than a couple of them, but she frowned further watching the shouting people. She found that at the moment, fame itself disgusted her.

Then, suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something… someone, somehow familiar and her breath caught in her throat. Among the crowds Haruka saw a flash of aqua hair and cobalt eyes. Her form went rigid and a gentle breeze blew lightly around her form.

_The gentle caress of a familiar partner, both protecting and feeling protected by the one in her arms, an overwhelming sense of undying love… _

Haruka's hand reached her heart as her eyes once again tried to find the woman she had briefly seen, but her hazel eyes couldn't find her. An angry gust of wind suddenly tore through the stadium.

_Endless emptiness, the cold depths of space, a desolate loneliness unlike she had ever known before. A broken promise…_

A physical pain tore at Haruka's torso at the two frighteningly different emotions that each claimed importance in her heart. She knew these phantom feelings, she had felt them most of her life, a gaping hole that felt as though it came from the bottom of her soul. It's cause certainly hadn't been a result of an event during her lifetime, and she refused to believe that it could have come from another one, for why would anyone love her? How could anyone love her? She had always been alone. Always.

Haruka pushed away the images that threatened to break into her mind and grasped onto the ferocious wind that promised to relieve her pain so long as she would forget the emotions that threatened to tell her more than she wanted to know.

It was all Haruka could do to remain standing and feign an appearance of normality on the podium as her team charged at her with the standard bottle of champagne.

* * *

Michiru woke with a violent start, bolting upright and slamming back into the headboard, her arms held tightly across her chest in fear. No longer did she dream pleasant memories of her past life. Instead, her dreams were filled with a nightmare landscape of what her sixth sense told her was to be the future. 

_Cold waters threatened to consume the city, waves towering higher than the tallest skyscrapers vying for dominance in the sky. A freezing wind blew from the north, so cold it stole her breath. The seas screamed with rage, a promise of impending doom. _

It was a future full of darkness, death, and hopelessness.

But this nightmare had ended differently than the others. This one held a familiar ray of hope, an angel of mercy. In this nightmare, a blonde haired woman in a strangely scant skirt and tight fitting top spoke to her. And her voice had filled Michiru with hope.

"_We're destined to fight this Silence together, you and I. But I'm afraid the Uranus of this time isn't ready to meet you, Neptune, and I'm not sure she will ever be ready. I'm sorry, but please don't give up hope."_

Michiru shuddered at the remembrance of the woman's husky voice. Uranus. Her name was Uranus. And she had called her Neptune. Michiru didn't understand these things, but something about the names felt natural, as though she had always been named after the seventh planet.

She had to find this Uranus. With her, she could prevent the approaching Silence. She had a duty to fulfill, a duty she couldn't place her finger on.

Slightly frustrated, Michiru sighed and rose from her bed. '_What am I to know of such things? What do I know of saving the world from a terror known as the Silence? I'm just a normal fifteen year old student and artist!'_

Normal… until both her waking and dreaming thoughts had been dominated by memories of a past life… and a past love.

Immediately, her thoughts returned her to the Tenoh Haruka of her dreams and the Tenoh Haruka of the present. Such similar, yet different people. She still wasn't sure she could connect the two of them.

And now she had dreamed of another blonde haired woman, this one ready and waiting for battle, needing only her by her side in order to defeat any threat.

Michiru almost laughed at the absurdity of it all as she crossed her apartment and set a kettle of water on the stove, hoping a cup of tea would calm her shaky, tired nerves. She couldn't help but wonder if she was losing her grip on sanity as such a young age.

Pulling a chair from her lonely kitchen table, she sat before the previous day's untouched newspaper. Flipping through the stacks of paper for the arts section, she jumped slightly when the sports pages fell from her fingers and landed in front of her. The rest of the pages fell unnoticed as her cobalt eyes focused on the front page article.

"Genius racer youngest ever to win…" Michiru's voice trailed off as her eyes trailed to the handsome photograph of Tenoh Haruka. The similarity to the lover of her past life was absolutely uncanny, but she also resembled someone else, someone equally important…

"Sailor Uranus?"

_flashback _

_An aqua haired girl bent to smell the fragrance of a peculiar red flower. Though she had never actually seen a rose before, she knew it was a flower from the planet Earth, an offering from their people to the Moon Kingdom. The young woman looked distrustfully to the sky in the direction of the blue planet currently hidden by the glare of the sun. She felt uneasy when she thought of the Earth, but she knew not why._

_Eager voices carried on the wind pulled her out of her introspective world, a place she was apt to frequent when troubled. She forced herself to focus. She was, after all, beginning a new life as a sailor senshi that very day, and at fifteen years of age and as a Princess of her home world of the Ocean Planet, Neptune, surely she was expected to act as such._

_Picking up her teal skirts that flowed about her, she began the daunting incline up the palace steps. The grandeur of the expansive castle lived up to its reputation with its white and sparkling architecture created from the materials of the rocky planetoid. The hanging gardens and water features that flanked the walkways were unparalleled and teeming with abundant flora from around the solar system. The smells and sounds from the courtyard outside the palace walls rang with the hustle and bustle of commoners, the prosperous peoples of the Moon Kingdom and the eight planets it presided over. Nine if one were to include the Earth, currently negotiating a treaty to align themselves with the Moon Kingdom._

_Nine planets that the Neptunian Princess would soon be bound to protect as a sailor senshi. _

_A term once held for the protectors of Princess Serenity and the guardians of the heart of the solar system, Earth's Moon, it had recently been decided that new senshi were to be called to duty from the outer most planets. They would be called the outer senshi, compromised of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto, the former two of which were to play lesser and greater roles, respectively. She knew not much of their mission, other than it was to be an effort to protect the borders of their solar system from the possibility of attack._

_Yet, the only sense of unease the young Neptunian Princess had ever experienced hadn't come from outside their territories. It came from somewhere within. _

_She hoped that her fellow outer senshi would be able to help her understand her budding elemental powers so that she would be able to hone her abilities and become a strong warrior. Furthermore, she was looking forward to meeting her future partner, the senshi of Uranus. Though she had never met the Uranian Princess, she had heard much about her and her wild, carefree nature, and the young woman was anxious to meet someone with such a reputation. It would be a welcome reprieve from the buttoned down Neptunian society she was so accustomed to. _

_Her breath caught in her throat as she crested the stairs, foreign voices becoming louder, and finally she laid eyes on a group of people. She knew, without introduction, that they were to be her peers, her fellow senshi. The colors of their adornments were indicative of their heritage; blue for Mercury, orange for Venus, red for Mars, and green for Jupiter, each girl slightly younger than herself. Her eyes then trailed to a beautiful long haired girl dressed in flowing white, most definitely Serenity, the Princess of the Moon, who wore a slight blush on her face from the attention lavished on her by a handsome man that stood at her side._

_Naturally, the aqua haired girl's eyes shifted to inspect the man, trailing from his feet up. He gracefully donned knee high, polished black boots and a crisp blue and gold suit. A sword sat lazily on his hip, its jewels catching the rays of the sun. The weapon was an instant indicator of his lineage, and the fact that the gilded mirror enclosed in a satchel on her hip resonated with the sword's energy from across the room made the identification that much easier. A gentle smile graced the Neptunian's face, and not only for the admiration of the object of her attention's handsome profile framed by short cropped sandy hair. _

_Clearing her throat, the outsider made her appearance known. The conversations ground to a halt as all turned to face the new woman who confidently approached the male figure in the group. She stood barely a head shorter than the other, and at such proximity, she could smell the woodsy cologne brought by the closeness they shared. Hazel eyes met her cobalt ones, and she could sense the other getting lost in her depths. Yet, curiously, she found that her staring mate had intoxicated her as well._

_Caught in the aqua haired woman's captivating gaze, all the previous bravado the blonde had displayed while flirting with the Princess of the Moon had somehow lessened. The beautiful new woman may have been the only one to notice, but what was once a steady hand seemed to shake slightly as it reached out to hers for an introduction. _

"_Good morning-"_

"_You must be the Princess of Uranus." The Neptunian woman interrupted evenly._

_Small gasps echoed around the two, each of the inner senshi caught off guard at such an insinuation. A deep laugh that pulled at the Princess of Neptune's heart filled her ears like music as the 'man' before her ran long fingers through short hair. _

"_Very astute of you… Princess of Neptune?" the Uranian woman asked lightly._

_The aqua haired girl smiled and slipped her hand into the Uranian Princess' own proffered one, pleased at the strength in the handshake they shared. "Kaioh Michiru. Please, call me Michiru." She said, matching the other woman's alto chuckle with her own mezzo giggle. _

"_Haruka. Tenoh Haruka" The blonde replied in like fashion. _

_The taller woman's deep, husky voice sent a shiver down Michiru's spine and she found that when Haruka ended their handshake, she suddenly felt an indescribable sense of loss. _

"_Prin…cess?" The senshi of Venus finally asked, her hopes of pursuing the handsome stranger obviously deflated. The other girls gasped at the revelation of a wrongly assumed gender_

_The Uranian Princess turned to the others around her, a broad smile on her playful face. "Silly girls, I never said I was a _man_." She exclaimed teasingly._

_Conversation erupted, the girls' giddy voices echoing off the stone walls of the palace antechamber as they passionately laughed and conversed with and about Haruka. Michiru observed the sandy haired woman and laughed as Haruka teased the girls and ran them in circles with their adolescent questioning. Although such a loud, boisterous scene was uncommon to her, she felt herself taking pleasure in it, and a smile tugged at her lips at their antics as she was pulled in amongst the friendly group._

_Introductions completed and the excitement of the moment finally calming, Princess Serenity suddenly smacked herself on the forehead, her odango-like buns whipping back and forth from the effort of her emotions alone._

"_I totally forgot!" She cried in a high pitched tone, obviously upset that she had not remembered about her responsibility once being distracted by the allure of meeting new friends. "I was supposed to tell you to meet with Sailor Pluto in the Leo Room of the South Wing of the Palace!"_

_Rei, the senshi of Mars, sighed in exasperation. Smiles on their faces, it was becoming quickly apparent to the two outsiders, however endearing it might be, the forgetful and adorably childish personality of their Princess and future Queen._

_As an argument began to brew between the two Princesses, the newly acquainted outsiders quietly slipped away unnoticed, descending the stairs rapidly enroute to their meeting with their fellow outer senshi, Pluto._

_Having noticed Michiru's slight unease in the group of girls earlier, Haruka half way teased the smaller girl with some amount of concern. "A little out of your element back there?" _

"_Ara, apparently it's your turn to be the astute one." Michiru returned with a smile. "You're correct. I'm not used to speaking so freely."_

_Haruka cocked in head in thought. "Oh, well then, I do apologize. I don't wish to offend. I suppose I can attempt to reign myself in."_

_Michiru was touched by the Uranian Princess' gesture. "Yet it's obvious that it would not be your style to hinder your tongue."_

_The taller woman laughed deeply. "Well, that's true, but I should try to behave for my future partner, for such a beautiful woman." She said with a quick, lighthearted and teasing bow of her head._

_The aqua haired girl's heart skipped a beat and her legs stopped moving beneath her, causing her companion to stop as well. Michiru's brow wrinkled with displeasure as she considered the possibility of the woman next to her adapting her refreshing personality. "Behave? I would never ask you to do such a thing for me. I think… I think I like you just the way you are, Tenoh Haruka."_

_The flippant tomboy smiled and laughed, trying desperately to cool the blush on her cheeks. She wasn't used to being the one being complimented, but she found she couldn't help but bask in the other woman's honest affections._

"_Besides," continued Michiru, "I do believe I'm beginning to enjoy behavior such as yours." She admitted, joining in her partner's blush as Haruka smiled widely at her. _

"_It's good for you. You know, to be open and care free. Makes life more fun." Haruka commented, forcing herself to tear her eyes from Michiru as she urged her legs to move once more. It was a duty to her kingdom that had brought her to the Moon Palace, not the Princess of Neptune, she reminded herself scoldingly._

_Michiru nodded in agreement and stole a sideways glance at the other girl as she caught up to her long stride. She didn't blame the young inner senshi for believing Haruka to be a man, everything from her angular face down to her wide gait masked her true gender. She was tomboyish and she was confident, she was outrageous and without a doubt, she was the most interesting person Michiru had ever met and the Neptunian Princess found all these attributes to be extremely attractive in the other woman. She couldn't help but feel a strong pull to Haruka. It was intense, frightening, and wholly new to her. _

"_So, what kind of stuff do you like?" Haruka's searching voice shook her new friend out of her thoughts. Her hands on either side of her head, the tall girl gazed longingly at the blue sky. _

_Michiru shrugged non-committaly. "Well, I enjoy playing the violin."_

"_Violin! How proper!" Haruka commented with ease, realizing that such a beautiful instrument certainly fit its player._

_The aqua haired girl frowned slightly at her companion. "Am I to assume that the brash Princess of Uranus was not required to pick up an instrument?" _

_This comment made the hazel eyed woman grumble beneath her breath as she kicked at an imaginary pebble at her feet._

_Michiru's frown was replaced with a mischievous smile at the childish display. "Pardon me? I don't think I heard you."_

"_Piano!" Haruka grumbled louder this time. "I've played since I was young enough to touch the keys, but I've never had a reason to enjoy it. It was always something that was forced."_

"_Maa?" Asked Michiru lightly. "Then perhaps we should play together. The beauty and enjoyment that can be found in music should be understood, even by such an opinionated and tomboyish person like you." She added flippantly, the teasing tone feeling refreshing on her tongue._

_Haruka snorted at the jab, the Neptunian Princess was learning and she was enjoying their cultural exchange as much as her partner obviously was. "What else do you like?" She asked._

"_I enjoy swimming." Michiru returned._

"_Of course, the ocean. You would love the sea, it must be an integral part of who you are." Haruka said thoughtfully, considering her home world._

_The cobalt eyed girl nodded. "Oh, I do." A soft sigh was uttered and she unconsciously reverted to her native tongue, reciting a short verse of an ancient poem._

_Haruka frowned as she observed her partner's distant expression. Realizing that Michiru had seemed to slip into her own world inside her mind, a nagging desire for the aqua haired woman's attention to return to Haruka spurred the Uranian forward. The taller woman found that she didn't want the Neptunian Princess to leave her for even a moment._

"_The ocean would be nothing without the wind to guide her?" Haruka asked softly, concentrating on loosely translating the verse._

_Michiru's eyes snapped open in surprise. A slight blush tinged her cheeks at the sudden implication of the ancient verse. How coincidental that their elements would be wind and water… She slipped back into the common language of the Moon Kingdom, glad that Haruka hadn't tried to dissect the deeper meaning of the poem. "You understood me? You speak Neptunian?" _

"_Surprised? You'll find that for all of your apparent intuitiveness, there's more to me than meets the eye." Haruka said cockily, a hint of arrogance lacing her husky voice. _

_Michiru merely smiled. She smiled and hoped that Haruka had meant what she said. _

_Affording the sandy haired woman a mysterious grin, Michiru snaked her arm through Haruka's as they continued to search for the elusive Sailor Pluto. _

"_I see you two have already… met each other's acquaintances." A bodiless voice called out with a certain amount of amusement._

_The sound of determined shuffling echoed in the hallway as Haruka thrust herself in front of Michiru thoughtlessly and acquired a fighting stance in front of the smaller woman. The blonde was not fond of sudden surprises. "Show yourself!" She barked fiercely. _

_Light laughing was heard as a tall woman stepped through a stone archway. Lengthy sapphire hair swayed as long, shapely legs moved forward, unencumbered by a perilously short green skirt that was indicative of the senshi uniform. In her right hand was loosely held a menacing silver staff, standing at the woman's own impressive height. Her expression harbored a hint of amusement as she turned towards the two younger women._

"_Sailor Pluto!" Haruka and Michiru's voices exclaimed in unison._

_The sapphire haired woman nodded grimly. "Are you prepared to receive your mission?"_

_The older woman's garnet eyes demanded respect, respect that even the brash Uranian was quick to give without question. As she and her new partner followed the woman even taller than herself, the sandy haired woman swallowed audibly as she was lead to her destiny._

_Mere hours later, after the two newcomers had been informed of their missions, they awaited their induction ceremony. A small-scale event, so as not to alert the public to a currently non-existent threat, Haruka and Michiru, now Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune respectively, awaited their Queen._

_As the setting sun lapped at the white horizon of the jagged Moonscape, golden orange rays of light illuminated the palace courtyard. A shimmering pool reflected the blue orb of Earth that hung largely above it. Sailor Neptune's eyes were glued to the reflection suspiciously as she pondered their mission._

_Guarding the solar system from outside invaders couldn't be too difficult. After all, there had never been any force strong enough to so much as threaten the Silver Millennium. For that matter, the entire universe had been at peace for the past millennia. But what… what if there _was_ something out there? _

_Neptune hardened her resolve as she tugged at the short skirt of her senshi fuku. Their senshi powers should be strong enough that any foe could be destroyed with the aid of her partner Uranus and their accomplice Pluto, and if need be… even Saturn… but no, Neptune did not want to think about that possibility. Surely such a drastic measure would not have to be taken. Even Pluto, the overseer of time didn't think that to be a possibility. Besides, the Queen's Ginzuishou would protect them all, wouldn't it?_

_Neptune frowned, her brow creasing. She wasn't the only one to be thinking such dark thoughts. Her gloved hand tentatively reached out for Uranus' arm, resting gently on her wrist in a show of support. _

'_Somehow,' Neptune thought to herself, 'somehow, I feel as though whatever I'm up against, whether as a senshi or otherwise… I can get through it with her by my side.'_

_The taller of the two senshi flinched at the brief contact of her partner, her stony face masking her turbulent, undecided emotions for the new woman at her side. The harmless flirting that they had played at was enjoyable, but she found that she couldn't be certain about her partner's true feelings. So she forced herself to shove her emotions and her thoughts to the side as she focused on her duty and training to come. At least those were safe emotions._

_Sailor Uranus shifted uncomfortably in her new fuku. Though she agreed that the flimsily scant outfit allowed for complete freedom of movement while fighting, she thought the feminine design rather impractical, not to mention embarrassing. Boots. At least she got to wear boots. Between that and the welcome rush of power that she felt in her newly acquired transformation, it gave her an endless amount of pent up energy and in the tomboy's mind, these two things balanced out the terribly feminine outfit. _

_A glance to her left and Uranus found that Neptune seemed to sense her fashion embarrassment. She had learned that the aqua haired woman had a gift for intuitiveness, but with a sneer, Uranus found that thankfully, she kept her mouth shut about her findings. At least her partner had a body worth showing off, she thought consolingly._

_The two senshi were pulled from their thoughts as a stunningly beautiful silver haired woman entered the courtyard. Queen Serenity. Standing even taller than the solemn Sailor Pluto who maintained her silence behind her, the Queen moved with liquid grace. Her dress flowing white and long, her bunned hair was almost a mirror image of that of her daughter's. The woman commanded respect and both Neptune and Uranus dropped to one knee in reverence for the monarch of the solar system. _

"_Please rise." For all the woman's commanding body language and air of importance, her voice was soft and forgiving, as though she wanted very much to befriend her new warriors._

_Neptune and Uranus slowly rose, still unsure of themselves in their Queen's presence. As the woman approached them, even Uranus kept her head bowed slightly in a display of respect. _

_Queen Serenity spoke softly. "Welcome, Sailor Senshi Uranus, Sailor Senshi Neptune. Today you choose to accept your destinies and become bound to my service. The life of a senshi is difficult. It is one of war, struggle, and challenge. I would not ask your lives of you if the Moon Kingdom did not need your protection. I will ask you again. Will you willingly serve your solar system, your planets, and your Queen? Fear no repose as you decide on your final answer and reply in honesty to yourselves." _

_Feeling the compassion and concern emanating from their Queen, Uranus and Neptune again went down one on knee in unison, bowing their heads in a silent pledge. The answer to them was clear, that, If need be, they would give their lives for their solar system, for their planets and for this woman. They wanted to please this woman who had thought highly enough of their skills to allow them the honor to be senshi._

_Queen Serenity sighed quietly. She knew the two before her would be up against many odds and not only those of the battlefield. A slight smile on her lips, she turned to Sailor Pluto behind her and together, they left the two new outer senshi to their own devices._

_/flashback _

Michiru shook herself back to reality. "Tenoh Haruka… Sailor Uranus. They _are_ the same person."

Sensory overload threatened to overwhelm her and she reached out for her cup of tea like an anchor, only to find it cold to the touch. Somehow, she knew she had just relived one of the important days of her previous life.

So, her lover _was_ the same person as her partner, and they hadn't been on Earth at all… they had been on the Moon. Michiru did her best to catalogue her memories for further inspection as her fingers found her temple, the places and faces of the things she'd seen and the people she'd met all crowded her already full mind.

Yet the one person she couldn't stop thinking about was Haruka, that confident, cheerful companion of a lifetime ago. Intriguing, exciting and willing, there had been an obvious chemistry between them. She looked just like the Tenoh Haruka of present… but their personalities were so different. Her lover had been Sailor Uranus, also, her partner in combat, a partner she needed to find in the present day. But if that dashing racer really was her destined partner, Michiru feared a cold reception.

"_We're destined to fight this Silence together, you and I. But I'm afraid the Uranus of this time isn't ready to meet you, Neptune, and I'm not sure she will ever be ready. I'm sorry, but please don't give up hope."_

The voice of Sailor Uranus from her previous dream of the Silence echoed forebodingly in her mind.

A small squeak slipped from Michiru's lips as the jarring alert of her alarm clock came to life, shouting its insistency from her bedroom. She scurried to turn of the offensive sound that threatened to push her exhausted mind to its limit. Hitting her alarm clock harder than she had intended, Michiru collapsed onto her bed and stared into the growing sunrise of another Tokyo morning, the rays of sun heralding another normal school day.

The only normality left in her life.

Her brows furrowed with determination, Michiru rose and strode to the shower, vowing that she would find Tenoh Haruka again.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Thanks to my awesome KS and beta YoukaiMusashi! If there are any readers who are also of the Inuyasha fandom, be sure to check out her fic: Love Poison.

Thank you also to everyone who took the time to review! Your kind words mean a lot. Keep the reviews coming!

* * *

Preview: Chapter 3: 

"_Michiru…" Uranus whispered softly, concerned, breathless as she realized she had breached protocol and called her partner by her civilian name._

_The aqua haired senshi let it slip with a slight laugh. She loved to hear her real name from her partner's lips. Effortlessly in her exhaustion, she hid her true feelings by reverting to their game. "Well, I guess that was a draw. I think we both won that battle." _

_Uranus frowned and refused to comment as she forcibly tore her eyes from her partner's face. Slowly, she carried Neptune off the battlefield. 'But I haven't won.' She thought bitterly. 'Because even though you're in my arms, you're still so far away.'_


	4. 3: I Promised Her

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 3: I Promised Her  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

Day in and day out, thoughts of the aqua haired woman of her dreams infiltrated Haruka's mind.

With her mind and soul at odds with each other, Haruka had stubbornly spent as little time as possible thinking about anything beyond her immediate needs. Still, she could not evade thoughts of her past, her future, the visions that plagued her and her destiny and duty that she still refused to acknowledge. But mostly, she could not evade the image of that woman…

Flippant and apathetic as always, Haruka wanted no part of it.

Instead, she threw herself into trivial pursuits such as senseless flirting and any hobbies that involved speed. Motorcycles, race cars, running, they were all sports that required her to forget the things that tore at her mind, anything to kill time. But lately, even running held little solace for Haruka.

Sweat dripped from her brow and her arms pumped in time to her legs. Her heart beat slammed in her chest and her ragged breath was the only sound to reach her ears as she lost count of how many times she had pushed herself around the local running track.

The wind. She wanted to be the wind. She wanted to throw herself to her element's mercy and allow it to take her wherever it wished. Anywhere but where she was. However, the wind had refused to comply.

In the wind's embrace, Haruka had long felt welcomed, protected and powerful. It was only of late that her element had changed its nature. Where it used to react gently to her and with her, it now howled restlessly in her ears, urging her to follow her destiny. Yet could it be possible that it wasn't the wind who had changed, but herself? _'Impossible. I've been the same apathetic, quiet person my entire life. I've never been different, have I?'_

The breeze shifted slightly, pushing Haruka supportively from behind, as though urging her to follow her doubt, urging her that she was onto something. Yet, her brows furrowed as she considered that the change in her personality could have occurred in a past lifetime. She shook her head stubbornly and suddenly the wind changed course, gusting fiercely into her, as though trying to stop her, as though it were disagreeing with her.

She refused to consider such an implication of a past life. She brushed it off as a foolish notion. It was the wind that had changed, not herself, she decided.

Haruka's eyes watered as the wind continued to batter her form and slow her pace. It appeared that the wind had forsaken her. It had forsaken her to the memory of that aqua haired woman of her dreams. Neptune. Her own element wanted her to pursue that which simultaneously called to her and pushed her away. The wind wanted her to follow her heart, and her heart wanted her to follow Neptune.

Haruka's legs pounded the track harder as the fought the wind. What could her heart tell her of her desires? She had long ago closed off access to her heart, what seemed like ages ago, possibly before her lifetime had even begun.

'_But now I'm contradicting myself.' _She realized angrily.

The sweaty blonde frowned and ran faster yet. She stubbornly refused to believe that her dreams were shadows of a past life and she pushed away the thought of that woman with all her might. She was not strong enough for whatever nameless mission Neptune brought, she was not strong enough for that cobalt eyed woman.

Although she wouldn't admit it, Haruka's heart, her very soul, had begun chipping away her resolve little by little like a tile roof to hurricane force winds.

"Tenoh Haruka!"

The tall blonde's ragged breath caught in her throat as she realized that her gait had slowed and she was being paced by a red haired woman.

Haruka maintained her jog as she examined the smaller girl. Vibrant and energetic, short hair framed a tanned complexion and smooth features. Dark eyes were unable to mask the interest this girl found in the taller woman. Under normal circumstances, Haruka would have flirted with such a pretty face, but it was obvious that this girl meant business and so she held her tongue.

Haruka's admirer grinned at her confidently and she noticed the other woman's surprise that she was not swooning over her as so many others did. Knowing not to wait for an invitation from the reserved woman, she spoke first. "I'm Elza Grey, we're on the same track team at school."

A non-pulsed expression that spoke of indifference settled onto Haruka's face and so Elza continued. "I've just been dying to race you and coach hasn't matched us up yet. What do you say to a race?"

"I'd say you'd loose." Haruka said bluntly. Yet for her cold words, a faint glint in her eye shined with mischief and competition that was not lost on her jogging partner.

Elza's brows met conspiratorially. "At least give me a chance. Don't underestimate me!"

Haruka's eyes opened wide as she stopped short, coming to a quick halt, her hazel eyes clouded and distant.

_flashback _

_The hazel eyed girl sighed restlessly as their aging instructor coughed to draw their attention to him._

_"Neptune and Uranus. The first assignment of your training regime will be martial arts, hand to hand combat. As it will likely take years for you to refine your senshi powers, you must understand first your own bodies, and then each other's in order to work together as an effective team."_

_Haruka cleared her throat in embarrassment at their instructor's words, and from the corner of her eye, she noticed her partner's mischievous smile that was directed at her, having picked up the unintended implication. Haruka melted in her gaze. Did Michiru know how much that affected her or was she really just as naive as she looked? _

"_As senshi in training, I assume you have each had your own instruction on your home worlds. Let's compare techniques. Begin." He said as he stepped away to observe from a distance._

_Haruka frowned, her brows meeting curiously. "You mean you want me to attack _Michiru_?" _

_The cobalt eyed girl in question smirked slightly, and her expression came off teasingly. "Afraid of losing to a girl, Haruka?" She asked flippantly._

_The tall blonde scowled. Two weeks together and already the Neptunian had adopted her own teasing nature with ease. She had been burned by her own fire! "As if. I just don't want to hurt you, that's all." She finally returned non-commitally. _

"_I'm not as fragile as I may look. Don't underestimate me." Michiru said convincingly, an undeniable fire burning in her cobalt eyes._

_/flashback _

'_Neptune… Michiru?'_

With a heaving breath, Haruka snapped back to reality. That had been the most complete and vivid image she'd experienced outside of her nightmares of the Silence. And it was of that woman… That aqua haired woman! Only, this time, she hadn't appeared the frightening figure in the sailor fuku. Instead, she had seemed younger, a regular woman. A friend, even… Were they the same person?

A scowl suddenly gripped her features and she stood tall once again, cold resolve shining in her eyes. 'No. No. No. It doesn't matter.' Her mind repeated the mantra, her muscles clenching painfully. Neptune's image was associated with fear and loneliness, nothing else. Nothing else…

"So, will you race me then?"

The recognition of Elza's voice reminded Haruka of her situation and she used the race as an excuse to push the emotion-laden images from her mind. "You're on." She growled.

* * *

Once around the track, and true to her word, Haruka had maintained an easy lead over Elza, even after having run for more than an hour before hand. She gave the red head a knowing and uncompassionate nod but said nothing. After crossing the finish line first, words were unnecessary. She had made her point with actions alone.

"That was incredible! I've been training for years and I still can't match your speed." Elza smiled, not one to be a poor sport. Tossing a sports drink in the blonde's direction, she tucked a stray lock of red hair behind an ear. She looked at her watch, but the action came off as premeditated. "Oh! Look at the time. Hey, can I buy you lunch or something?

Catching the bottle with one hand easily, Haruka shook her head. "Pass." She said flatly.

This girl, Elza, was cute, and would have been fun to flirt with, yet even for one who usually kept acquaintances at arm's length, the blonde wasn't in the mood for companionship at the moment. The vision that had broken through her consciousness minutes ago still weighed heavily on her mind and although she knew her heart wanted to dissect it's meaning, her mind simply wanted to escape.

The red head shrugged easily, not put off by the handsome woman's refusal. "Some other time, then." She said with a smile as she grabbed her bag and waved goodbye.

Haruka didn't care to watch Elza leave as she also turned and left the track to head for her car. A faint smile tugged at her lips. Her two seater convertible could always do that to her, no matter how bleak her mood. She fished in her pocket for her keys and hopped into the car. The leather, warmed by the sun stuck to her sweaty legs, but she welcomed the feeling. This car and her love of speed had been inherited from her father, they two of only a handful of mementos she had to remember her family by. It was also through her family name and her fame on the racetrack that she had talked the local principalities into assigning her a drivers license at so young an age.

Her head rested against the seat, her hazel eyes hooded with tranquility as the powerful engine roared to life. A quick blip of the gas pedal caused the exhaust to growl menacingly and Haruka purred deeply in response. Finally, her thoughts were carried on the wind as her mind was lost to the music the machine made.

Michiru. That had been the name of the girl she had seen in her recent vision. Yet she had also been named Neptune. Could that cute, mischievous girl of her vision be the same sexy yet dangerously frightening woman of her dreams? The names were right and their likeness was uncanny. In her mind's eye, she could see the budding wit and playfulness of the beautiful Michiru growing into the sensual confidence that was Neptune. Thinking of her dream of the Silence, Haruka wondered if she supposed to find this Michiru, this Neptune. Was she to fight along side her, or something more, as the flirtatious Michiru had suggested? Senshi, they had been called senshi.

Haruka frowned from the information and sensory overload her mind subjected her too. It seemed that all her thoughts came back to an unknown duty. One that threatened to steal her happiness, to leave her empty and alone… but she was alone already.

'_I've always been alone, haven't I?'_ She suddenly wondered the validity of her own memories.

Her resolve floundering between a desire to know more about the aqua haired woman and a desperate need to push her from her mind, Haruka ran her fingers through her sweaty bangs as she growled in resentment. She didn't need duty or love to complicate her life. How could either of those things bring her any pleasure if the image of Neptune and this strange Michiru was so strongly associated with pain and fear at the same time?

The blonde frowned resignedly. To even admit to the visions of a woman she seemed to know would be to consider the possibility of having met her in a pervious life. One where they had been together…

"No!" Haruka growled, her voice stolen by the roar of her car's engine. In this life, she had a destiny of her own to follow. She was Japan's first ever accredited junior racer, a genius at driving racecars and motorcycles. The lure of speed and dance with danger was the only thing she wanted in this life.

The _only_ thing…

Slamming the gear shift into first, Haruka revved the engine and launched her car forward, the gentle touches of a distant smile on her lips.

* * *

As Michiru handed the cashier her money, she scrambled in her purse as her cell phone began ringing. Holding the phone precariously between her shoulder and cheek, she took the bag of clothes from the cashier, nodded politely and answered the phone.

"Mother?" She asked formally. It had been at least a month since she'd heard from her. Such was the life of a famous musician.

"Michiru, darling, this tour has just dragged on and on. I trust all is well?" She asked confidently.

The younger Kaioh sighed. It wasn't that her mother had been a particularly bad mother, it was just that she hadn't been a particularly good one either, having treated Michiru as more of a distant friend than a child that had needed raising.

"Of course." Michiru returned mechanically as she pushed open the door with her foot and entered the flow of foot traffic on the sidewalk outside the store. "And father?"

"Oh, you know how it goes. Your old man's currently looking for inspiration in Italy." She returned cheerfully.

"Ara. Is that so?" Michiru rolled her eyes, surprised that her mother still believed such a lie. It had been years since her father had produced so much as a painting. She had come to grips with the thinly veiled reality years ago, but apparently her mother was still in denial.

"You sound distant, dear. Are you sure everything is all right? Do you have enough money between your sponsor and your father and I?" Maternal instinct finally kicked in as the Kaioh matriarch's voice rose slightly with worry.

Michiru frowned as she shifted her bags of clothing from one hand to another. Money was never an issue. "Oh no, nothing of that sort. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine, mother."

Her mother's response drowned in her ears as Michiru caught sight of a yellow sports car speeding down the street towards her…

A flash of blonde hair, a chiseled expression, her concentration lavished on the street she flew down, Tenoh Haruka passed by Michiru in a torrential gust of wind.

"Michiru? Michiru, dear, are you there?" The voice on the other end of the phone grew quieter as the phone began to slip from the aqua haired girl's shoulder.

"I have to go, mother." Michiru's own voice barely registered in her ears as she pulled the phone from her ear with her free hand and came to a stop, causing waves of people behind her to part around her still form as she looked behind her. The yellow car had disappeared, taking Haruka with it. How did such a young woman even obtain a driver's license in the first place? Michiru wondered.

She sighed. She would have given anything to have been in the passenger seat next to Haruka, her hand resting atop her own on the shift knob, riding along the shore, the sea's salty smell overriding her senses, feeling the wind in her hair that Haruka's speed brought…

She wondered if the handsome blonde had even seen her at all_. 'And if she had, would she have recognized who I am? Or even who I once _was_?'_ Michiru asked herself such a rhetorical question wistfully.

The aqua haired girl frowned, her cobalt eyes stormy with mixed emotions. She had spent entirely too much time thinking about a woman she'd yet to even meet. _'What's wrong with me?'_ She berated herself.

Suddenly, she could hear the roar of waves in her ears and her body went on full alert. _'The ocean is restless.' _She realized, the phrase entering her mind unbidden. A call to duty gripped Michiru's heart like a vice. Instinctually, she knew the time for action was at hand.

"Uranus…" She whispered, the ancient name dying on her lips.

But no, Uranus would be of no help. Sailor Uranus herself had told her that she wasn't ready to be awakened yet. Michiru's resolve hardened. Until her fated partner was ready to join her, she'd have to go this one alone. Following her powerful sense of intuition, Michiru dashed down the street to an uncertain destiny.

* * *

The aqua haired girl froze at the sight that greeted her. It was hideous… this thing. This _youma_. Her mind settled on the fitting term.

The filth of the dark alleyway closed in on her as the creature, the brown mass with too many eyes, turned to her and recognized her presence.

She had to fight this thing?

For all its bulk and cumbersome shape, the monster came at Michiru quickly. Her eyes staring blankly ahead as it's short arms equipped with razor like talons slashed at her, she waited for the pain to come. Only there was no pain. Instead, there was a bright, searing light.

The youma was knocked back, unconscious, and Michiru found herself standing in front of a glowing rod. Strange in appearance, it was feminine and garish. But it spoke of a power greater than any she had ever known, and it called to the deepest reaches of her soul.

Unthinking, her long fingers reached out to the rod and she closed her hand around the smooth alloy. A rush of power filled her instantly, her wavy hair whipping back from her shoulders as an intense heat poured from her forehead. The character of Neptune burned its image into her vision as a voice so old that she had forgotten it as her own filled her ears.

"Neptune Planet Power… Make… Up!"

The rush of warmth and the tingling sensation that remained after the blinding light passed left her standing replenished and strengthened; yet wearing a strangely tight-fitting and scant outfit. She would have blushed at her unintentional lack of modesty had the youma not begun to rise.

Adopting a defensive stance, Michiru followed Neptune's intuition, allowing the senshi knowledge that had been buried deep within the confines of her soul to surface. As the youma charged forward once again, her cobalt eyes squinted mercilessly.

"Deep Submerge!"

The words had come from her mouth but she barely registered them in her ears as a great power coiled from the center of her body and released itself forward. A bolt of energy shaped like the planet that was once her origin formed. Its blueness rivaling the deepest of oceans, the manifestation of her powers homed in on the ugly monster that had awakened it.

Her attack was true, slamming the youma in the center of its otherworldly form and Neptune did not falter or even wince as its limbs were torn away from its hideous body and its blood coated the filth of the alley. It released a ghostly scream and the putrid smell of its remains stained the air with its death. Finally, its body receded into the darkness and then faded into nothingness.

With a sensation of thousands of sakura blossoms caressing her skin, Michiru felt the power that the transformation into Neptune had brought her drain slowly from her body.

'_Did I… kill it?' _

As her knees gave out below her, her vision faded to blackness.

* * *

_flashback _

_A flash of her thighs and long legs caught Uranus' hazel eyes as Neptune leapt to the side and mercilessly shattered the last of the wooden and metal training droids. The lights automatically came to life with an electric hum, signaling the end of the exercise. Fists clenched tightly, Uranus huffed in frustration, irritated with her momentary loss of concentration that had allowed Neptune the win._

_The senshi of the sea chuckled to herself. Be it Uranus or Haruka, neither of the woman's two egos were very secretive of their admiration of either Neptune or Michiru's sex appeal. A mischievous smile pulled at her lips as she suspected that the blonde had no idea just how aware she was of such supposedly hidden admiration._

_The aqua haired woman sighed introspectively. For the past year that they had been in training as senshi, their game of shameless flirting that had begun the moment they had first met had intensified, the witty comments and sly suggestions thickly laced with innuendo. It was a game that she found she couldn't hold back from playing, even if she had wanted to. The suggestiveness of it all, the brief, soft touches, the words whispered in an ear, all these things were threatening to overpower the teal eyed woman as she hid her true feelings from her partner, sure that the other thought the game they played was just that, a shameless game._

_"Were you distracted by something, Uranus?" Despite the lingering heartache, familiar innuendo laced Neptune's voice as she continued their ritualistic flirting. At least the slight pain it brought was better than empty silence between them._

_The taller senshi snorted in frustration. "Ah." She said, her standard one syllable comeback that was really just a precursor to a stalling tactic. "Please, there's nothing to be distracted about."_

_Neptune cocked an eyebrow mockingly. "Ara? Then you're up for another session perhaps?"_

"_Bring it on." Uranus growled as she cracked her knuckles and hardened her resolve to concentrate on winning the next match. _

_The aqua haired senshi frowned slightly. She had learned over time that the normally free spirited, happy young woman tended to turn serious in the face of duty, gaining an edge of harshness and deadly determination while they were on the field. But then, that was the essence of both Haruka and Uranus. The senshi of the wind was passionate about every act she performed, be it teasing her partner lightly or attacking savagely on the battlefield. The senshi of the sea couldn't help wonder what she'd be like as a lover…_

_No. Neptune forced herself to focus. She had to get her mind off such thoughts. _

_Once again the lights dimmed and the two partners wordlessly scattered. Their mission was a race to destroy every droid that was thrown at them, the winner being the one with the most kills. Such exercises advanced their individual skills in speed and stealth, and while both had excelled at fighting as a team, lately they had been concentrating on working individually in case of separation in battle._

_Uranus was fast, strong and agile, combining speed and strength in a deadly fashion as she hurdled her body over fallen trees and behind thick undergrowth in the simulated battlefield. Finding the first of their opponents, the blond haired senshi lashed out, wielding her sword expertly as she brought down droid after droid with her talisman. Her element of wind begged for release yet was not quite ready to be channeled, the manifestation of her budding powers telling in the puffs of wind that lapped at her heels as she ran, felling yet another droid in a shower of wooden splinters as it was cleaved in half._

_As she chased a path parallel to Uranus, Neptune was all agile fluidity and quiet tactic, always calculating and driven by rationality. That is, unless her partner was in danger, in which case her rational was questionable. _

_Uranus, out to prove a point, was bent on claiming all the kills to be the game's victor, yet in her unthinking rush as she battled three oncoming assailants, Neptune knew that Uranus couldn't possibly detect the droid that quickly snuck up on her from behind. Despite the senshi of the wind's speed, her partner knew that she wouldn't be able to defeat all four opponents and come out unscathed._

_Thoughtlessly, the aqua haired woman leapt across the distance separating them and threw herself at Uranus' back. In a span of a second's time, the stealthy machine emitted a painful laser attack and Neptune took its impact as Uranus effortlessly defeated the others in front of her. _

_The senshi of the wind flinched as she heard her partner's cry in her ear. The short, blonde hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she realized that Neptune had somehow been injured. Uranus growled as she realized that, without her knowledge, her partner had gotten behind her and taken the brunt of an attack that had been meant for her. It had all happened so fast that she hadn't been able to detect of it in time. _

_Enraged, the tall woman spun towards the fourth droid still hanging behind her and after dodging another of its laser bolts, prepared herself for another attack. An angry smirk pulled at her lips as she destroyed it with her bare hands, twisted chunks of metal and splinters imbedding themselves into her palms unnoticed._

"_Neptune!" Uranus barked, seeing her partner's fallen form face down in the leaf littered undergrowth. The tall woman fell to her knees as she pulled Neptune's limp body into her arms. The droids were capable of delivering immense electrical shocks to the human body in order to simulate a real life injury and she knew her partner was in terrible pain. _

_Neptune's eyes cracked open slightly as she fought off the pain. She felt Haruka's strong arms around her, one behind her back, the other clutching her upper arm to hold the injured woman steady. Neptune's hazy mind realized that Haruka's hand on her arm was warm and moist. She struggled her way back to full consciousness as the realization dawned on her. She gasped as her own hands darted out to Haruka's, her own limbs heavy from the electrical shocks still traveling through her system._

"_Your hands are bleeding." She said softly, the pain muting her voice._

_Uranus brushed her off. "It's nothing. How can I care about my hands when you're injured?" She said through gritted teeth._

_Neptune smiled smally. "But I like your hands." She whispered._

_Touched by her partner's words, Uranus suddenly found herself lost in the oceanic depths of Neptune's cobalt eyes. She felt as though she could stay there forever… _

_Suddenly, the pupils of those eyes dilated. "Uranus!" Neptune shouted a warning._

_A chill ran down Uranus' spine as the mechanical whine of a swarm of droids filled her ears. An ambush was closing in from the other end of the field. The tall senshi pulled her partner close to her chest in an effort to shield the smaller woman's body._

"_Uranus! What are you doing? We have to fight!" Neptune struggled weakly against the stubborn and reckless protection her partner afforded._

_The senshi of the wind shook her head and merely held Neptune closer. "I can't defeat them all and I won't let you get hurt again!" She barked._

_Neptune swallowed audibly in surprise at Uranus' selflessness that mirrored her own. "We still have a chance." She said, softer this time as her hands searched for help. Her Aqua Mirror, her own talisman, appeared in a soft, blue light. _

_Uranus tentatively loosened her grip, allowing the senshi of the sea some space as the intuitive one of the pair thought out her strategy. "I think… I think I can use this to find their leader. Defeat that one and the others should fall." Her partner looked to her with searching eyes. "We can do this. Together, Uranus."_

_Trusting in the aqua haired woman she'd grown to know so well, the senshi of the wind was willing to take the chance on her partner's intuition and she carefully rose with Neptune in her strong arms. She set her down on the ground gently as the smaller woman thrust her mirror in front of her body, surveying the rush of assailants. The tens of oncoming droids slowly faded in the mirror's reflection, leaving one solitary machine, an apparent loner who hung off to one side of the group. _

"_There! The last one to the right!" Neptune shouted to her partner, indicating the leader of the machines._

_Uranus nodded grimly and leapt into the fray, propelling her body forward and to the side to avert the coming swarm away from her injured partner. She stood her ground as the machines adjusted their trajectories to home in on her. An eyebrow cocked and a smirk on her face, Uranus felt a deadly new power well up inside her body. Deeply buried instinct guiding her, she raised a hand to the dark canopy of trees and then thrust it to the ground._

"_World… Shaking!" She screamed detachedly, the release of a powerful bolt of magical orange energy recoiling from her body at the leader of the machines. _

"_Deep Submerge!" _

_Her partner's voice rang in her ears and she spared a moment to glance at Neptune, her hands in front of her and a wave of blue, wave-like energy similar to her own chasing after it. _

_Together, the two forces slammed into the droid leader and the mechanical object was engulfed in magical energy. Instantaneously, its circuits fried and then burst apart and shrapnel flew from the force as the machine was obliterated, the blast taking out some of the others in its vicinity. Not a moment too soon, the remaining droids fell to the ground, skidding at Uranus' feet. _

_The blonde senshi looked back to her partner in near disbelief. After an entire year of training, they had finally channeled the source of their elements. "The manifestation of our powers…" _

_Neptune smiled knowingly. She understood why her powers had finally surfaced. She had been pushed to the limit and had been forced to reach into her reserves to protect the only person that really mattered. Had that been the case for her partner as well? Slowly, she took a shaky step towards Uranus, wanting, needing such an answer. _

_The surprise of the surfacing of her powers, her relief over the safety of her partner and the pain of the electrical jolt still coursing through her system, the smaller senshi stumbled, her eyes closing in exhaustion as she awaited the impact of the Earth…_

_The impact never came, and her partner's strong arms were much softer than the cold ground she had expected. How Uranus had gotten to her side so quickly was beyond her, but finally Neptune relaxed and trusted her weight in the other woman's arms. A smile spread across her face._

"Michiru…" Uranus whispered softly, concerned, breathless as she realized she had breached protocol and called her partner by her civilian name.

_The aqua haired senshi let it slip with a slight laugh. She loved to hear her real name from her partner's lips. Effortlessly in her exhaustion, she hid her true feelings by reverting to their game. "Well, I guess that was a draw. I think we both won that battle." _

_Uranus frowned and refused to comment as she forcibly tore her eyes from her partner's face. Slowly, she carried Neptune off the battlefield. 'But I haven't won.' She thought bitterly. 'Because even though you're in my arms, you're still so far away._

_/flashback _

'_Whose arms am I in?'_ Michiru wondered as she slowly came to, hoping that the battle with the youma had been nothing more than a nightmare and that reality was actually that of her memories of her past life. Was she in the arms of her partner?

The unearthly stench of the dead youma still infiltrating her nostrils, Michiru realized with a groan which reality was the one that waited for her. The reality was that she had become Sailor Neptune and had slaughtered her first victim. Alone. Without the help her partner had given her in her latest memory. A team, they had always worked best as a team.

Haruka…

'_But then, who is holding me now?'_

Michiru's cobalt eyes opened in shock, her body tensing as she found herself looking into a pair of the bottomless garnet eyes of a green haired woman.

"You! I saw you at the stadium during Haruka's race!" Michiru tried to shout, but found her voice more of a hoarse whisper. "What do you want from me?" Suddenly frightened, Michiru struggled to sit up, meeting no resistance from the other woman.

Kneeling eye to eye with the strange, stoic woman, Michiru realized that the silent woman wore a similar outfit to the one she had worn when she had become Sailor Neptune. "Who are you?" She asked again, this time with more confidence.

"My name is Sailor Pluto." The enigmatic woman answered.

"Yes, I remember you from my memories." Michiru said introspectively, finding that she had already let her guard down in the familiar, friendly vibe she sensed from the sapphire haired woman. Her instinct had already told her that this woman was to be trusted.

The senshi of time nodded, finding that her ally had remembered more of her past life than even she had hoped.

"But you have another name too, do you not?" Michiru asked herself more than she did Pluto. "Setsuna! You were called Setsuna!"

Pluto smiled sadly, a small smile that almost reached her eyes. "Yes. A long time ago I was called that."

Michiru's expression of remembrance slipped into one of cautious wonder. "You told me of my destiny in my first life. Are you here to give me the destiny that awaits this one?"

"If you are willing accept to it, that is my duty." Pluto responded cautiously, not wanting to push the newly awakened woman.

"I'm ready for my destiny." Michiru said confidently, the intense emotions associated with the memories of her past life spurring her forward. "Once Uranus awakens, I'm confident that she and I will be able to defeat any foe."

The dirty alley suddenly became much more interesting and Pluto's garnet eyes slipped to gaze at the ground. She could not lie to Michiru. "I don't know… when she'll awaken. She's not ready now, and I fear that any attempts to make her try may only push her father away. Uranus may never realize her destiny, Michiru."

The aqua haired woman's expression fell as the mysterious woman's voice cut through her, rivaling the pain she had experienced in her previous remembrance. Pluto's expression was cold and her voice distant, but Michiru could feel the concern and sadness that emanated from her. They were close friends, once, and Pluto knew, as well as she did, that the Uranus of this time was not ready to be awakened.

"I know, Pluto. In a dream, Uranus told me…" Michiru began haltingly, sadness lacing her voice. "Uranus told me that she wasn't ready to be awakened yet. But she also asked me not to give up hope."

Pluto's eyes narrowed at the implication. Such information surprised even her. The spirit of Uranus had made contact with Neptune? Michiru's voice pulled her from her shock and she realized that she'd have to consider that thought later.

"It's Haruka, isn't it, Pluto? Tenoh Haruka." Michiru asked, her stony voice surprising even herself.

Pluto nodded silently, saddened and resigned.

An unknown pain settled in Michiru's heart as the pieces clicked into place. The Haruka of her past life, the woman she had loved then was the Tenoh Haruka of this time. Her partner of old, Sailor Uranus, was Tenoh Haruka. But Tenoh Haruka refused to awaken to her duty. Tenoh Haruka was unwilling to accept her destiny.

"I'll find a way to help Haruka. I'll find a way to make it work." Michiru whispered, her resolve hardened. She didn't know how she would approach the distant blonde. She didn't know what she would say or what she would do. But she believed, that if they had shared even only what she had remembered so far of their past lives, nothing could keep them apart in this one.

"Are you sure you want this destiny? It won't be easy." Pluto asked softly, finally meeting Michiru's cobalt eyes once again.

"Its who I am. I need this destiny. I need _her_." Michiru's fists clenched tightly, her knuckles white, but finally, a small smile touched her lips and her voice softened as a sweet memory filled her mind with longing. "I… I promised her that I'd find her first."

Pluto swelled with a sense of hope she hadn't felt in a millennia. This time, the smile on her lips touched her ageless garnet eyes. "Then, are you ready to learn your new mission?"

Michiru nodded deftly. "Yes."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to my KS and beta, YoukaiMusashi! You flatter me so. :p

Thanks also to all my reviewers. Each and every review is special to me, and I appreciate them!

* * *

Preview, Chapter 4:

_The senshi of the wind froze, remembering her partner's sixth sense of intuitiveness. Had she been found out? Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. She was entranced as each second seemed to last an eternity. They were painfully slowly leaning closer to each other. Michiru's lips parted, her warm breath on Haruka's own trembling lips, but was it all her imagination? _

_A loud, firm knock on the door and the sound of it swinging open on its hinges caused the girls to gasp as their eyes shot to the door in frozen surprise, Haruka tightening her hold on Michiru's waist protectively at the unknown threat. _

_Sailor Pluto stood in the entrance with a blank expression on her face, for the first time in her life at a total loss for words in the awkward situation she'd found herself in. She eyed the two on the bed, trying to determine their relationship. They were close, very close, but her own intuitiveness told her that they hadn't admitted that their feelings for each other were the same. _

"_If… if I've caught you two at a bad time, I can come… err… back?" She stuttered uncomfortably. _


	5. 4: Mists of Eternity

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 4: Mists of Eternity  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

The mists of eternity swirled and parted at the figure's feet, eager to escape the tumultuous emotions of the Guardian of Time. Confident that her reborn and now awakened ally, Michiru, was secure in her apartment and sleeping off the events of several exhausting days after remembering her past life and being awakened as Sailor Neptune, Pluto had finally returned to her post, hoping that Michiru could handle the memories and emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

The sapphire haired woman sighed as she collapsed into a large chair hidden by the mists. Sometimes, she wondered what was worse, the statically boring centuries she had endured prior to the rebirth of her friends, encompassing the hundreds of years where thoughts of Haruka and Michiru had been relegated to the backburners of her mind, or now, the present, where she had been presented with the effort of trying to bring together the partnership of one of the strongest unions in the solar system.

The conviction in Neptune, or rather, Michiru's voice when the aqua haired girl had accepted her destiny still sent shivers down Pluto's spine. The fire that burned in her icy eyes, every pulse and synapse that ran through the young woman's body created almost a mirror image to the Michiru of the Silver Millennium; completely dedicated to her love of Haruka. She had not strayed from destiny's path.

Where Haruka had.

Haruka was not the mirror image of herself from a millennia ago. The darkened, cynical, lonely woman who shunned those around her was not who Haruka was supposed to be. Rather, she was the mirror image of the shell that held Uranus' likeness after the fall of Moon Kingdom. That, after that terrible day, Haruka fell victim to her duty and her personality having changed so drastically, her destiny was thrown to the element that should have saved her, not destroyed her. Was there any hope at all for the wayward Haruka?

"Uranus told me that she wasn't ready to be awakened yet. But she also asked me not to give up hope."

Michiru's words lit a spark of hope that warmed Pluto. For the spirit of Uranus to have contacted Neptune was more than she could ever have hoped. The long suppressed emotions that the stoic warrior had discarded so long ago had reached out. The rebirth of Michiru's memories of her past life had triggered Uranus to break one of the many barriers that imprisoned Haruka's true personality. Perhaps there was hope yet.

Pluto shook her head. It would do her no good to get her hopes up yet. If Uranus would soon be receptive to being awakened, it would then be the time to bring the two together and hope that Michiru's dedication to her past lover would be enough to bring the rogue Haruka back to the woman she once was. And if such an effort could be accomplished, perhaps Pluto herself could return to the woman _she_ once was, too.

"_Setsuna! You were called Setsuna!" _

Michiru's voice still fresh in her ears, a smile captured Pluto's lips as for the first time in centuries, she allowed herself the indulgence to think of her friends during the Silver Millennium.

_flashback _

_Sailor Senshi Pluto smoothed out her green skirt contemplatively before pushing her way into Queen Serenity's chambers. She hadn't visited the Moon Palace since she had first given her allies, Uranus and Neptune, their missions more than one year prior. She wondered what could possibly be important enough for her Queen to pull her away from her post at the Time Gate. Surely, the foreseer of the future hadn't sensed anything that needed tending to on the Moon._

_Pluto approached the throne and dropped to one knee. "You summoned me, my Queen?"_

_Surprisingly, Queen Serenity sighed and smacked her lips in an irritated fashion. "Honestly, Pluto. You've been in my service for two millennia and you've been my closest advisor for just as long. How long will you insist on such formalities?"_

_Pluto's brow furrowed in confusion. "As long as your actions earn my respect, my Queen, as they always have."_

_Serenity rose from her marble throne and lowered herself to meet Pluto's garnet eyes. Kneeling on the hard, marbled floors for one of her subjects was not beneath the monarch of the Silver Millennium. "Pluto, I'd like to think that I'm more than just your Queen. I'd like to think that I'm you friend, also. Do you see me as such?" She asked softly._

_The Guardian of the Time Gate stared at her leader blankly. In her long life of little contact, Pluto had never used that word. "Friends?" She asked cautiously, wondering if the wealth of emotions she felt, yet had never before displayed for her Queen might mean this foreign word._

"_Yes. Friends." Queen Serenity smiled softly and took Pluto's hands in her own, helping her to rise off her knees as they both stood. "And I think you need more of them."_

"_I beg your pardon, my Queen?" Pluto began, and then was chilled by an icy glare from her leader. "I mean, Serenity-san." She amended, trying her hand at being marginally less formal._

"_That's your problem, Pluto. You're always so formal. Being trapped at the Time Gate, your social skills are more than lacking." She chuckled quietly at her advisor's incredulous expression. Serenity was surely known for her honesty and lack of subtlety. "If such a time should come, how do you expect your allies to fight next to you if you barely even know them?"_

"_Uranus and Neptune?" Pluto asked hesitantly, naming those allies that she would fight alongside should the need arise._

"_Haruka and Michiru." Queen Serenity corrected sweetly, trying to get the duty hardened Pluto to think of her allies as not only senshi, but mere humans, too. "Spend time with them. Learn to understand them and to understand what it means to truly be human. Get to know _yourself_, Pluto."_

_Pluto's head cocked to the side in thought. Serenity's offer was appealing, if not a little frightening, and although time on the mortal plane sounded like a worthwhile experience, she had her duty to think of as well. "And what of the Time Gate?"_

_The Queen of the Moon sighed. Her advisor had spent most of her long life at her post, dedicated to her duty and nothing else. The woman deserved much more than just the short reprieve she planned to grant her. "Leave it. We've been at peace for almost a millennia. Besides, you have not alerted me to any problems on the horizon."_

"_This is true." Pluto confirmed hesitantly. "Although, as you know, there is an unease about the solar system, though there has been nothing I can detect from my post. But," _

"_But nothing." Queen Serenity said authoritatively. "Pluto, you need time for yourself, and you could use other friends too. I _order_ you to take leave from the Time Gate until it is necessary for you to return."_

_Pluto hid her garnet eyes behind thick, green bangs. "Understood, Serenity-san." _

* * *

_Older, wiser and with even more sex appeal, Michiru at seventeen years of age fully understood the pull her body held over Haruka, and she was not beneath using it to her advantage._

_At the moment, the senshi of Neptune was craving quiet solace that only her stoic partner could provide, and even though the continued pain that came with not understanding Haruka's feelings for her constantly ate at her, she longed for the stronger woman's arms none the less. Little had changed in their relationship, their flirting had grown more dangerous and suggestive as ever, their chemistry had become a tangible force and those that didn't know them, and even some who did, thought the beautiful pair to be lovers._

_Yet still, Haruka and Michiru hadn't bridged that unspoken gap between them, their reluctance to speak about the closeness of their was relationship had become so great that Michiru feared that if she were to put words to their actions and emotions, the binds that kept them close could break apart._

_In the fading light of dusk, almost tentatively, Michiru raised her fist to knock on Haruka's door, just one down from her own similar suite. The sound of her knock echoed too loudly through the corridors of the palace hallway for her liking, and immediately upon hearing her partner's voice, the senshi of the ocean slipped in through the door._

_Sprawled across her bed with a book in hand, her back against the headboard, a lightly clothed Haruka caught Michiru's eyes with a hint of mischief in her hazel depths. "What? Training wasn't strenuous enough? You need me to tire you out some more?" _

_The blonde's hearty laugh grated at Michiru and the smaller woman found she had to force herself not to answer in honesty to Haruka's flirtatious flippancy. Not trusting her mouth, she kept it shut and crossed the distance from the door to Haruka's bed. Wordlessly, she crawled onto the bed, kneeling in front of her partner._

_Haruka's novel fell from her fingertips numbly. As she lost herself in the senshi of the ocean's gaze, the taller woman tensed at the unexpectedness of her partner's actions. "Michiru, are you alright?" She asked softly. "Are you ill? Injured?"_

_Too frozen to move a single muscle, Haruka gazed at the aqua haired woman's small form, diminished further by her sudden vulnerability. Could she be homesick? What could bother the strong Michiru to the point of wordlessness?_

"_Shhh." Michiru replied softly, unable to form words. Though she wanted much, much more, for the moment, she'd force herself to be content with Haruka's closeness._

_The senshi of the wind swallowed audibly as the smaller woman turned to display her back to her, her too-thin nightgown showing off her exquisite feminine form as she curled into a ball next to her, resting her head on her partner's lap. Haruka's fingers ached to sink into Michiru's aqua hair, to caress the smooth skin of her neck, to…_

_Haruka tried desperately to derail her dangerous thoughts, but her fingers found themselves entwined in Michiru's locks before she had even realized it. A sigh escaped her lips as she realized that it was as soft as she had imagined. As her long fingers brushed against the smooth skin of Michiru's neck, she promised herself not to take advantage of her situation, no matter how right such action may seem._

_After all, Haruka was sure that Michiru's actions were no different than those of the silly inner senshi girls. She had noticed that many of the younger girl's friendships allowed for such soft touches, hugs, and butterfly kisses. Friendship. Surely, that was what Michiru was looking for._

_The senshi of the wind felt guilty that her own emotions were not so pure. What she wanted was more than just a friendship with the aqua haired goddess currently in her lap. Much more. But she refused to push her desires on her partner._

"_Haruka?" Michiru's voice was a mere whisper as the slight girl sat up to face her partner, only inches away from the blonde's face. _

_The senshi of the wind froze, remembering her partner's sixth sense of intuitiveness. Had she been found out? Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. She was entranced as each second seemed to last an eternity. They were painfully slowly leaning closer to each other. Michiru's lips parted, her warm breath on Haruka's own trembling lips, but was it all her imagination? _

_A loud, firm knock on the door and the sound of it swinging open on its hinges caused the girls to gasp as their eyes shot to the door in frozen surprise, Haruka tightening her hold on Michiru's waist protectively at the unknown threat. _

_Sailor Pluto stood in the entrance with a blank expression on her face, for the first time in her life at a total loss for words in the awkward situation she'd found herself in. She eyed the two on the bed, trying to determine their relationship. They were close, very close, but her own intuitiveness told her that they hadn't admitted that their feelings for each other were the same. _

"_If… if I've caught you two at a bad time, I can come… err… back?" She stuttered uncomfortably. _

_Michiru's signature giggle filled the room and broke the ice, the blush fading from her cheeks at the hilarity of it all. Brushing off the close encounter with her partner, she immediately attended to her floundering ally, expertly hiding her desperate sense of loss once squirming from Haruka's hold._

"_Are you going to come in or just stand there with your jaw hanging open?" Haruka asked brashly, following Michiru's lead though a fraction of her bravado was diminished by the lingering blush that tinged her cheeks, her mind indulging in what might have transpired between herself and Michiru had their untimely ally not barged in. _

_Pluto did as was suggested. Latching the door behind her, she stepped into the entryway uncomfortably. Michiru regretfully slid from Haruka's large bed as she stood to greet her fellow senshi, wanting to ease Pluto's sense of intrusion and outsider-ness. "It's good to see you again, Pluto. It's been a year and a half since you gave us our mission. Has something happened regarding its importance?" _

"_Not exactly." Pluto replied, quickly recovering from the awkward situation she had caused. "Perhaps a change in my own, personal mission."_

"_Shall we discuss it over a cup of tea?" Michiru asked softly, trying to make Pluto more comfortable as Haruka got the hint and rose to straighten up her seating area._

_Pluto nodded. "That sounds wonderful. Only…"_

"_Only what?" Haruka asked, a slight laugh in her voice._

"_Only I feel quite overdressed." Pluto replied, eyebrows raised and a hint of an amused smile on her lips as she indicated her senshi fuku in relation to their scant nightclothes._

_Haruka and Michiru blushed hotly, remembering their modesty._

* * *

_Michiru sported one of Haruka's long sleeved shirts, the sleeves falling over her hands as she served her allies' tea before taking a seat in a cushy chair next to her partner. "So, Pluto, tell us this news which would take you from the Time Gate."_

_Pluto sipped her tea thoughtfully, her garnet eyes lost to recent memory as she shifted uncomfortably in her long unused civilian clothes she had reverted to in an effort to fit in. "The Queen suggested I spend some time away from my post. She wants me to befriend the two of you so that we might become a more effective team."_

"_She wants you to become more human." Haruka said plainly, reading between the lines of the plans of their compassionate Queen. She caught a dirty look from her partner indicating her lack of tact. "What?" She asked. It was certainly no secret to anyone in Queen Serenity's service that the cold and formal Sailor Pluto could use some help in the friendliness department._

"_Haruka is correct." Pluto said fairly, assuring Michiru that she wasn't offended by the lack of subtlety offered. "And honestly, I think she's right. My inter-personal skills could use some brushing up on anyway." _

"_So could your fashion sense." Haruka said lightly, a finger pointed to Pluto's sorely outdated clothing. "How many millennia has it been since you've worn civilian duds?"_

"_Haruka!" Michiru exclaimed, but was eased by Pluto's quiet laugh._

"_I suppose you're right. I have a lot to learn." The sapphire haired woman admitted coyly. "Queen Serenity has given me a room close to yours. I only hope you two don't keep me up all night." She smiled righteously at the blushes she caused on the faces of her allies. So far, she found that life on the mortal plane was rather enjoyable. _

"_So, Pluto," Haruka said, making an effort to shift the focus of conversation off of her undefined relationship with Michiru, "what should we call you?"_

"_Call me?" The garnet eyed woman asked, her teacup paused enroute to her mouth._

_Michiru nodded, following her partner's lead. "A civilian name!" She said excitedly. "Something other than what your duty has named you."_

_Pluto sat her cup down thoughtfully. "I don't know. I've… I've never had one before."_

_Michiru cocked her head to the side in thought, concentration etched into her beautiful features. "Yuriko?"_

"_No, too girly." Haruka said, shaking her head._

"_Haruna?" Michiru tried._

"_Too much like mine." Haruka complained. _

"_Rin?" Michiru asked._

"_Too bland." Haruka sighed._

"_Setsuna?" Michiru proposed with more certainty. _

"_Setsuna. I like that." Pluto said with conviction._

_Haruka smiled widely. "Well then, Setsuna, welcome home."_

* * *

_In almost two years since the induction of the outer senshi, there had been no indication that Sailor Saturn would be needed; yet, without warning, they found themselves on the purple planet._

_Sailor Uranus' hands balled into white-knuckled fists as she and her allies followed the chalky purple path on the barren surface of the inhospitable planet of Saturn. "We shouldn't be here. There's no reason for this to be happening. If you can't sense a force dangerous enough to the Silver Millennium to cause her birth your premonitions must be wrong, Pluto." She barked into the harsh winds. _

_Neptune stopped and laid a hand on her partner's arm and shot Uranus a stern glare to rein her in. Sailor Pluto wordlessly continued ahead of them on the path, twisting her body precariously to walk through a crevice of a rocky cliff. The reflection of the far away sun glinted off her imposing Time Staff as her tall profile vanished completely. _

"_Whether a danger to the solar system has come or not, Saturn has been born and we must deal with those implications." Neptune explained firmly._

_Uranus shook her partner's hand off her irritably and crossed her arms over her chest, communicating her unhappiness with the situation. Neptune sighed at Uranus' childish reaction, knowing the taller woman was apt to push anyone close to her away when her own fate hung in the balance. The situation wasn't any easier on Neptune, of course. With Saturn's birth came the threat of an unforeseeable catastrophe, a disaster hidden not only from herself, but from Pluto as well. Yet, in the face of such uncertainty, what choice did they have but to join forces with the senshi of destruction? _

_The breath of Neptune and Uranus caught in their throats as Pluto finally emerged from the cavernous hole ahead of them. A toddler, barely of walking age was wrapped in Pluto's gentle, yet tentative embrace. Even from so far away, the toddler's expressionless purple eyes locked onto the forms of Neptune and Uranus and seemed to bore through their very souls._

_Uranus spat, the mucus from her mouth sinking onto the thick soil at her feet. "She will be our destruction."_

_Neptune and Pluto looked away guiltily. Although neither one could see clearly the future that awaited them, neither could they deny Uranus' premonition. _

* * *

_Haruka had quickly found that she couldn't begrudge Sailor Saturn for the destiny the young girl had been born into. _

_In the six months since the girl, who the three of them had named Hotaru, had come to live with the outer senshi, it hadn't taken the senshi of wind long to drop her reserves and embrace the child, and once she had, Haruka had reverted back to her normal, carefree personality and along with her other allies, had adopted the girl as her own. _

_Besides, when the small, raven haired girl had first entered their lives, the toddler hadn't even understood the nature of her terrible powers. Though she technically was the senshi of Saturn, her knowledge of her duty to sacrifice herself and the entire Silver Millennium for the good of the solar system had yet to be awakened. She had grown rapidly over the course of the six months she'd been with the outer senshi, a sure sign of an approaching threat that still could not be determined. Regardless, Haruka had quickly found that she wanted to shield the young girl from the destiny that awaited her for as long as possible. _

_Michiru too, felt the same. Haruka knew that much, and the maternal instincts that Michiru displayed while caring for the young senshi had sent chills down Haruka's spine. The young addition to their team made Michiru happy. Setsuna also, and the three of them functioned as the young girl's parents, a missing link to their family that they had never known existed, and in turn, the child had brought the three adults even closer._

"_Haruka-papa?" A young voice implored innocently._

_The senshi of the wind looked down to her adopted daughter cheerfully, squeezing her hand gently. It had seemed almost over night that she had grown to the physical appearance of eight years of age. "Yes, Hime-chan?"_

"_This shop is boring, and Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama will likely shop forever. Let's go back to the main market place!" The young girl said with exuberance. Her father figure was only too happy to oblige._

_Michiru caught the two sneaking out of the shop from the corner of her eye. "Hotaru-chan? You keep an eye out and don't let your Haruka-papa get into any trouble!" She smiled as Haruka smacked her lips in mock annoyance as Hotaru pushed her from the store. A quick smirk on Haruka's lips told Michiru that she'd pay for her comment later, and it was met by one of Michiru's own accepting the unspoken challenge._

_As the Neptunian woman examined the clothing display, the store's merchant approached her with a lighthearted laugh as his eyes lingered on the retreating forms of father and child. "What a beautiful child the two of you have!" He said heartily, relishing in the aqua haired woman's blush and sudden far away look that captured her eyes. Upon seeing her sapphire haired companion, he clasped his hands together loudly and turned his attention on her. "And you must be the lucky grandmother!" He exclaimed brightly._

_A sudden chill settled in the open air booth as Setsuna glared at the portly man. "Grandmother?" She grumbled. She glanced down at her clothing. She really had to learn to adopt the current millennium's fashion. Michiru laughed lightly and pushed the stunned woman from the booth and out of the awkward situation. "It's the gray tunic? Isn't it? No one wears gray anymore." Setsuna grumbled. _

_Michiru chuckled at her fashion-limited friend. She still hadn't quite gotten the knack for dressing the part. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she paused._

"_Michiru?" Setsuna asked, bewildered at her friend's strange actions._

"_Haruka's up to no good." Michiru answered with a grin on her lips, her sixth sense on full alert. _

_Setsuna wordlessly followed her companion as she darted through an ally and down a street, somehow tracking the other two members of their impromptu family. "Really, must we sneak around like this?" The garnet eyed woman asked._

"_Ara? And you _don't_ want to take part in catching Haruka red handed?" Michiru asked lightly as she spotted their target._

_Setsuna shut her mouth and leant against a merchant's booth as she kept her eyes trained on Haruka and Hotaru on the other side of the street. _

* * *

"_Haruka-papa! Now!" Hotaru urged, barely maintaining her excitement._

"_Not yet, Hime-chan, not yet." Haruka replied through clenched teeth, trying her best to look casual. She surveyed the street packed with women and men alike, browsing the wares in the marketplace. The scents of baked goods and cooked food wafted on the gentle breeze that played around them, waiting for the command to be issued as the senshi of the winds readied herself. _

_Suddenly, a ferocious gust of wind tore through the marketplace. Women's skirts flew up about their torsos, light wares were lifted off vendors' tables, and paper products scattered to the merciless wind. A commotion of voices, a combination of laughter, surprised exclamations and scurrying was heard as the marketplace was quickly reassembled, and above it all, the mischievous laughter of Haruka and Hotaru could be heard._

"_Tenoh Haruka!" The commanding voice of Michiru scolded as she and Setsuna caught up to their family._

_Haruka slouched, knowing that trouble was coming and that she was too weak to run from she who would deliver it. Her hazel eyes, large and surprised caught her partner's. She knew her easy laugh and seductive smile wouldn't get her out of this one._

"_What have I told you about abusing your powers in public?" Michiru scolded. _

_Haruka brightened. "Ah, but I can do it in private?" She asked suggestively, playing off of Michiru's words. She reveled at her partner's beautiful pouting expression, knowing she had won that spat, but little did she know that the worst was yet to come._

"_I _knew_ that was you that blew my skirt over my head last week!" Setsuna exclaimed angrily. "And you told me that it was just the wind!"_

_Michiru smacked her lips. "Ara! After the third of fourth time that happened to me, I caught on to Haruka's game." She teased her friend, but then turned menacing eyes to Haruka. "Have you been teaching Hotaru-chan how to abuse one's senshi powers?"_

"_Ah… no." Haruka tried, inching backwards. She'd been caught. She heard the giggle of her daughter next to her. It was always funny when it wasn't happening to you. Michiru cocked an eyebrow. Haruka flinched. The next thing she knew, Haruka fell to her bottom and was drenched from head to toe. Her partner's skill with her element was such that she hadn't even seen the torrent of water coming at her. _

_A broad smile on her face, Michiru turned and walked away, Hotaru's skipping stride following after her mother. All that remained with the drenched Haruka was Setsuna's form, doubled over in righteous laughter._

"_You think that's so funny?" Haruka asked, a glint in her eye barely detected through her limp, soaked bangs that hid it from view._

_Setsuna detected the ripples of wind circling her friend and the laughter died in her throat, that deer in the headlights expression now gracing her own face. Her hands clamped down around her skirts. "You wouldn't dare… Haruka… Haruka!"_

_/flashback _

A slight chuckle on her lips, the bittersweet memories lingered in her mind and Pluto came back to her senses with the realization of a hot sting behind her eyes of tears that would not fall.

She focused instead on her post. A glance to the Time Gate showed her those that had already awakened, the inner senshi. Indulging in rest and relaxation after the defeat of the Black Moon Kingdom, it was a break well deserved. The inners had done well defeating first Beryl and Metallia, and then the Black Moon Kingdom. Yet Pluto frowned. The next enemy on the horizon would be much stronger, she could feel it. The help of the outer senshi would be necessary in the coming battle. Their awakening was necessary.

Not that Pluto's powers to see the future were all-knowing. Quite the contrary, the mysteries of the future would only show themselves at their own discretion, and even then, that particular future could change. That was the nature of time. It could shift and destinies could change. Haruka's already had.

The Time Gate clouded and the images disappeared. No longer showing the five young girls, the doorway was now divided, displaying Haruka and Michiru, both asleep and dreaming. Pluto watched critically, knowing that Michiru was likely remembering the same memories that she had just indulged in. She hoped that Haruka, for once not being plagued by visions of the silence, was also being receptive to the memories that tried to break through the walls she had erected at the end of her past life, the walls that threatened to keep her separated from the one woman who could make her whole again.

The garnet eyed woman sighed with frustration. There was little more she could do to help them other than to provide simple guidance. All she knew for certain was that Haruka was not yet ready to awaken to her destiny, and that if she were pushed too hard, she would be likely to try to run from it, even run from Michiru, the only love her soul knew. Until Haruka were to become more susceptible to accepting who she was, the only option was to wait and hope.

Hope that Michiru was strong enough to accept that reality, hope that Haruka would overcome her fears. But mostly, her hope was that Michiru and Haruka could figure out how to fix what had been broken so long ago.

* * *

Author's Notes:

As always, special thanks to my KS and beta, YoukaiMusashi!

Thanks also to everyone who's bothered to review. Please keep your comments coming!

I know this chapter was brief, but it sheds lights on the development of the relationship between the Haruka and Michiru of the Silver Millennium, and enters Pluto's role into the mix. Stick with me!

* * *

Preview, Chapter 5:

"_Haruka, your eyes… what's affecting you so deeply? What are you so scared of?" Michiru asked quietly, her concern for her partner dominating her. Somehow she knew the answer to her own question. _

_Haruka's jaw clicked shut, the closeness of her partner overwhelming her senses. The silence of their surroundings was deafening and she battled her own body to not respond to Michiru's touch. When suddenly, she felt Michiru's soft lips on her own in a gentle kiss, she felt hot tears well in her eyes. _

_Slowly, the aqua haired woman pulled away, her eyes opening slowly as she observed her partner's stiff posture. She couldn't tell if the moisture in Haruka's eyes were tears or an illusion created by the reflection of the pool by their feet. Her breath caught in her throat as she panicked. Had she read Haruka wrong? Had she misinterpreted the song they had composed? What had she done?_


	6. 5: Waiting to be Discovered

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 5: Waiting to be Discovered  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

Michiru's eyes opened slowly. Rolling over, snuggling deeper into the warmth of her down comforter, she noted the time. Midnight. She had slept since mid-day after the exhaustion of her first battle as Sailor Neptune, and for the first time in weeks, had slept deeply and had not been plagued by nightmare visions of a silence-ravaged future.

An inexplicable smile curled her lips upwards, dimples forming in her cheeks as the ghost of a chuckle left her mouth. Whatever she had dreamt of was vague at best, but a rush of warmth filled her soul with happiness. Vague memories of close friendships and ties to a child they had cared for filtered through her mind and she knew she had dreamt of her past life on the moon.

"Haruka." She whispered softly, suddenly melancholy that her partner of old on both the battlefield and in the bedroom was unready, or worse, unwilling to join her, to be by her side.

'_But why?'_ She asked herself. The Haruka of her past had been a dedicated friend, always by her side, and although she hadn't yet learned how they had become lovers, she knew their relationship had eventually become passionate. If she felt the same need for her partner in this life, how could Haruka's feelings for her have changed? Such had been what was implied by the reincarnation of her lover's body language and listless expressions.

There were many questions about her past life yet unanswered and Michiru found she wanted instant gratification. Most importantly, she wanted to know why the Haruka of the present, the stoically handsome playboy, or so the tabloids called her, was so different from the Haruka, the witty, sensual, carefree lover of a millennia past.

Michiru sighed, her cobalt eyes finally opening, admitting defeat. There would be no falling back asleep once she started thinking of that woman. She hoped that some fresh air might clear her mind.

Prone to the chill of the early spring night, Michiru rose, abandoning the warmth of her bed. Wrapping her slim form in a flannel robe, she strode to her apartment's main room and slid open the door to the balcony. The brisk night air caused her to wrap her arms around her chest as she stepped through the threshold. Small puffs of hot breath crystallized in the cool air as her cobalt eyes were drawn to the stars above.

The cool temperature and the cloudless, moonless sky amplified the glow of the stars, almost overpowering the neon glow of the Tokyo streets far below her as Michiru's eyes studied the constellations. She had never specifically studied astronomy, but had somehow inherently known much about outer space. She had always assumed her knowledge to be from osmosis through other classes, but now she had to wonder if there wasn't another reason for her intimate understanding of the cosmos.

Her breath caught in her throat as she picked out the faint glow of Neptune. Once, it was her home world, her mother planet, and if she squinted, Michiru could imagine that Uranus was there too, in the distance, as if waiting to be discovered…

Suddenly, the sounds of the street below her faded and a strange duet between piano and violin reached Michiru's ears. Initially, she wrote it off as a neighbor's radio, yet slowly, the duet grew louder, drawing Michiru's attention, and like an old friend's name that she couldn't quite remember, she cocked her head as she tried to realize why the song sounded so familiar.

The aqua haired girl shuddered and the spell cast by the ghostly song was broken. The cold suddenly too much for her to bear, even with her heavy robe, she quickly retreated to the warmth of her apartment.

About to throw herself to the mercy of her overstuffed couch, Michiru first eyed her violin in the corner of the room. The strangely familiar tune still playing through her mind, almost as if in a trance, the young woman approached it.

Methodically, she opened the hard plastic case and removed her bow. Supple and familiar from years of use, she tightened the fine strands before running the bow's strings through a well worn piece of resin with a practiced stroke. Then, taking the fragile instrument from its bed of blue velvet, she raised the violin to the crook of her neck and with inherent grace, arched her bow to its strings.

Unthinkingly, her fingers found the right notes as she recreated a song from memory and her mind began to wander, lost to the music in her head.

_flashback _

_The sun had set hours ago. Michiru lifted the long teal skirts that billowed around her ankles as she ascended the stone stairs, the weight of the moon heavy on her shoulders. While Hotaru had aged rapidly in the eight months under their care, Setsuna and herself had reached out, looking for clues to an undetermined future to no avail. Nowhere outside their solar system was there any indication of a catastrophe that should have triggered the birth of Sailor Saturn._

_Nowhere. There was no sign of a danger to come from anywhere outside their territories, yet still, the rapidly aging girl was among them. Unknowingly, Hotaru heralded a terrible demise._

_Training had been increased in the face of the seemingly nonexistent threat, and each of the outer senshi increasingly found themselves in solo missions patrolling the outer reaches of their solar system. Michiru's mind wandered as she thought of her partner. At that very moment, Uranus was scheduled to be out scouting the area between Pluto and the Kuiper Asteroid Belt, an area of suspicion suggested by those of planet Earth. Michiru frowned as she remembered the strange unease she continued to sense from that blue planet that the Moon orbited and she forced herself to think of Haruka. At least those were happier thoughts._

_Marginally happier, at least. Of late, between their missions, training, and raising young Hotaru as a family, what little time Michiru and Haruka had to spend together was precious and rare over the last couple months. And finally, when they were together, the tension between them was an impenetrable wall and Michiru didn't know if she could bear it any longer._

_The senshi of the ocean had reached the point of no return, and she felt that if she didn't confess her feelings for the senshi of the wind, clear her conscious and move on, whether with, or without Haruka, she feared her pent up frustration might defeat her. No longer could she play the push and pull game of suggestive flirting and physical near misses that had ensued in the three long years that they'd been together as friends and partners._

_Michiru needed an answer, once and for all. She needed to know if Haruka loved her as she loved Haruka. _

_But first, she wanted to consult Setsuna. Only the older, wiser woman would know if it was a good idea to approach Haruka with her questions. After all, Michiru wasn't even sure if senshi were permitted a luxury such as love. Although it was true that Michiru knew Haruka better than anyone else in the entire Moon Kingdom, she needed reassurance to take that first step and she knew that Setsuna would be willing to listen to her concerns._

_Cresting the rooftop at the top of the steps, Michiru spotted her friend. Setsuna sat in an oversized chair, concentrating diligently on a high powered telescope set before her where the dark of night closed in around the openness of space. Above them, the stars glowed brightly, illuminating the white mountains on the horizon. The Earth hung largely overhead, casting its gentle blue hue across the rooftop. Michiru second guessed disturbing her friend and silently, she turned to leave, suddenly doubting herself._

"_Michiru, wait." Setsuna's voice pierced the darkness._

_The aqua haired woman turned to see the senshi of time still engrossed in her telescope. "No really, Setsuna, it's nothing." She urged._

_The garnet eyed woman pulled her face away from the lens, blinking in the solar glow of the night. "Nothing?" She asked cryptically, her voice laced with the suggestion that she knew why her friend had come to her._

_Michiru sighed in defeat and Setsuna patted the seat next to her lightly, a welcoming smile on her face. The senshi of the sea took the proffered chair, her legs pressed tightly together and her hands clasped in her lap. "Anything interesting in the sky tonight?" She asked lamely._

_Setsuna cocked an eyebrow. Avoidance and a loss of words was not Michiru's style. As her garnet eyes studied the mountains on the horizon, she understood what her friend was so desperately searching for. _

"_Yes. I think you should do it." The tall woman spoke with certainty as her knowing garnet eyes warmed even the darkness of the night that closed in around them. _

"_Do what?" Michiru asked slowly, brows furrowed. Used to being the intuitive one, she was always thrown off when her friend, the Guardian of Time, knew what was on her mind. _

"_Confess to Haruka." Setsuna clarified plainly, as though the thought were an every day occurrence or at the very least, something that should have been done long ago. A smile graced her enigmatic face as she laid a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder. "I think you should do it. You love her, don't you?" _

_Michiru's jaw hung open slackly and a sudden blush tinged her cheeks. Then, a serious, heart-felt dedication rippled through her and a drawn expression chiseled tight lines on her face. "I do. So much that I would _die_ for her, Setsuna."_

_Setsuna shivered despite herself as the intensity of Michiru's emotions caught her off guard and the stoic guardian of the time gate found she couldn't meet Michiru's eyes. With an expertise born from centuries of controlling her power to see the future, she pushed away the images that her friend's words had brought her. Images that proved Michiru's dedication to be frighteningly true._

_Once content that she would not break taboo and tell her friend what she had seen, Setsuna filled the silence and continued. "You're worried that senshi aren't allowed to love." The sapphire haired woman said plainly. Michiru nodded shyly and Setsuna continued. "But don't forget that each of the inner senshi, including the Princess herself has a suitor from the planet Earth." She noted, watching Michiru's thoughtful eyes considering her point._

"_But what of love _between_ two senshi?" Michiru asked haltingly, her frightened voice barely more than a whisper. _

_Setsuna smiled, trying ease her friend's concerns. "Queen Serenity would not deny that which makes you happy. She is too compassionate for that. If she thought the feelings that you and Haruka share were a danger to her kingdom, she would have disbanded the outer senshi the day you two first laid eyes on each other."_

"_Feelings we… share?" Michiru repeated slowly, a shocked expression on her pale features. _

_Setsuna smacked her lips in mock frustration. "Please. The only ones who don't know that the two of you are in love with each other are Haruka and yourself!" The guardian of time laughed lightly at Michiru's wide, cobalt eyes. "Kaioh Michiru, for one so intuitive, I'm surprised at you. How could you not know that Haruka would return your affections?"_

_Michiru's mouth hung open, quietly stuttering with excitement and shock. She knew not how to respond to the revelation Setsuna had granted her. _

_Suddenly, a slow, sad melody crafted by ivory piano keys filled the silence of the quiet rooftop and Setsuna's eyes closed as she sighed softly, indulging in the music. _

"_She's here, you know." Setsuna finally said softly._

"_Who?" Michiru asked, confused._

"_Haruka. She's returned from her mission." Setsuna clarified, still lost to the crying melody that carried on the wind._

"_But she wasn't due to return for two days time!" Michiru exclaimed, finally regaining her voice. _

"_Apparently _something_ drew her back here." The garnet eyed woman said suggestively with a small roll of her eyes at Michiru's naivety. Smiling, she stood and took Michiru's hands in her own, helping her to rise._

_Michiru threw her arms around her friend's neck, hugging her quickly in thanks. Wordlessly, the aqua haired woman hurried from the rooftop. Finally understanding that the sad song that had captivated the very air she breathed belonged to Haruka herself, she used the crisp, clear notes of the piano to lead her to her love. _

* * *

_Her music reflected her mood, slow and melancholic as the crisp notes echoed off the low roof above her in the alcove of the quiet outer senshi wing of the palace. A garden surrounded the open air atmosphere, the green, creeping vines lending to Haruka's sadness as a shimmering pool of water cast its reflections across the ceiling above her head._

_As her fingers danced over the keys, Haruka reminisced about her recent mission. In the vastness of space, searching for a seemingly nonexistent enemy, she had never felt so lonely. It had been only two weeks time, but not one fraction of that time was spent without thinking of her partner. _

_In her solitude, Haruka found that she could no longer set aside the depths of her feelings for Michiru._

_It was years ago that she had decided that what she felt for Michiru was love, but now, the senshi of the wind was certain that she could no longer hide her feelings from her partner. As their constant flirting intensified, she could no longer trust herself not to act out on her desires for the senshi of the ocean, she could no longer rein herself in through the temptation of Michiru's gentle caresses and sensual closeness. Now that she had returned from her mission two days early, Haruka found that she was afraid to even see Michiru at all. _

_So, she found solace in the piano. Her fingers hadn't touched the keys in more years than she could remember and she was quite sure that the object of her affection would never find her there. For the time being, Haruka felt safe. Safe from ending her friendship with Michiru, from ruining what they shared all because she could no longer contain her emotions for her partner. All because she felt differently for Michiru than Michiru felt for her._

_No longer could Haruka provide only friendship for her partner._

_Although her fingers never hesitated, the blonde woman's heart skipped a beat painfully inside her chest as another instrument matched hopeful harmony to her melancholic melody. The sound of a stringed instrument wailed sadly in tune to her ivory keys as the two instruments weaved an impromptu duet. For long moments, the instruments spoke for their composers, creating a tale of friendship, of hardship, of longing… of something more. _

_Finally, the sad song Haruka had slowly weaved, an apology to the one she believed she'd hurt with her honest emotions, turned into a passionate, restless confession of an emotion wholly different. The duet culminated into a brilliant crescendo, the intensity of the chords and strings filling the night itself in its wake. _

_The echo of the instruments' aftermath continued for long moments as the two composers finally looked up from their respective instruments and two pairs of eyes full of torrential emotions met each other in a stormy, needy gaze. _

_Haruka was the first to break eye contact with her partner and she practically growled as she stared down at her hands numbly. "What are you doing here?" She barked, recoiling at the harsh sound of her own voice._

"_I could ask you the same thing." Michiru said levelly, gracefully setting her violin down on the black surface of the piano. She refused to allow Haruka's frustration to get the better of her. She knew that her partner was apt to overreact when troubled and she tried not to take it personally._

_Haruka's mouth snapped shut as she pointedly ignored the smaller woman, forcing herself to keep her eyes from Michiru's beauty. The senshi of the ocean always found a way to neutralize her brashness. They would have been perfect for each other. Abruptly, the tall woman rose from the piano bench, the wooden legs screaming across the stone floor, causing both of them to wince. _

"_There was nothing out there, so I came back." Haruka finally answered. "I've yet to debrief the authorities on my mission, I still have work to do." With that, the blonde woman bowed slightly in an effort to distance herself from her partner and walked forward, bracing herself as she made to walk past Michiru, her gaze cast to the side to avoid eye contact. _

_Yet Michiru slid to the side, blocking Haruka's path and the taller girl walked right into her, the senshi of the wind's normally lightening fast reflexes seemingly dulled. The aqua haired woman reached up gently, silently, and with her hands, cupped the sides of the blonde's face to force her partner to look into her eyes. As her body pressed against the other woman's tall form, she was instantly distressed by the turmoil she found in Haruka's hazel eyes. _

"_Haruka, your eyes… what's affecting you so deeply? What are you so scared of?" Michiru asked quietly, her concern for her partner dominating her. Somehow she felt she knew the answer to her own question. _

_Haruka's jaw clicked shut, the closeness of her partner overwhelming her senses. The silence of their surroundings was deafening and she battled her own body to not respond to Michiru's touch. When suddenly, she felt Michiru's soft lips on her own in a gentle kiss, she felt hot tears well in her eyes. _

_Slowly, the aqua haired woman pulled away, her eyes opening slowly as she observed her partner's stiff posture. She couldn't tell if the moisture in Haruka's eyes were tears or simply an illusion created by the reflection of the pool by their feet. Her breath caught in her throat as she panicked. Had she read Haruka wrong? Had she misinterpreted the song they had composed? What had she done?_

_The tension between them was long past snapping when finally, Haruka repeated Michiru's gesture. Strong arms wrapped around a slim waist, pulling her partner closer to her body as her lips crashed down onto Michiru's in a desperate, searching kiss. _

_The senshi of the ocean was bombarded with emotion from the tall woman. As their lips met and their tongues danced, tears came to Michiru's eyes as she sensed the depth of Haruka's feelings for her. Her long fingers caressed Haruka's shoulders and twined in her short, sandy hair as she tried to use both her body and her mind to ease her partner, to assure her, to convince her that this was right, that this was what they both wanted. _

_And that was all they needed. There were no empty words between them, no questions left unanswered that their simple actions hadn't already answered. They knew now, their feelings for each other really were the same._

_Slowly, as the initial desperate act slowed and finally stopped, the two women broke for air, each panting slightly in breathlessness, their pounding heartbeats filling their ears. Finally, Haruka's hazel eyes met Michiru's cobalt ones, no longer in avoidance. The blue glow of the Earth above painted their skin as the senshi of the wind broke into quiet chuckling, her normal carefree, happy personality having returned._

_Michiru breathed a sigh of relief but cocked her head in question, never loosening her grip on her partner. "Maa, what's so funny?" She asked with raised eyebrows, finding Haruka's laugh contagious._

"_That we didn't do this three years ago!" Haruka replied lightheartedly, once again leaning downwards to catch Michiru's lips with her own._

_Michiru hungrily returned her partner's kiss, but then suddenly pulled away, eyeing Haruka with a righteous pout of mock irritation. "I thought you had a debrief to attend?" She accused._

"_Oh no, that can wait. After all, I'm not supposed to be back for another two days." Haruka said slyly as she stole another kiss from her partner, her lips trailing sideways to capture the corner of Michiru's mouth, the crook of her tempting neck and down to the smooth skin of her collarbone. _

_Michiru giggled and tore herself from Haruka's grasp, the curls of her aqua hair bouncing as they framed her face. Wordlessly, she took her partner by her hand and led them both back to their rooms, leaving their instruments to wait for their return._

_/flashback _

Michiru blinked, her bow still pulling at the heart felt sound of the last note of the impromptu love song. Hot tears collected behind her cobalt eyes as the memory of the wordless confession of love she had shared with Haruka replayed through her mind. Now she knew. She knew how she and Haruka had confessed their love.

A blush crept up her cheeks as she remembered her very first vision of her past life that had come to her days ago. Haruka and herself running down the halls of the Moon Palace, hand in hand, mouth to mouth, and the events that ended in her own bed. She was now able to connect, full circle, her first memory to her latest. Unable to stifle the arousal she felt, Michiru set her violin and bow down on the coffee table gently before standing and striding back to the balcony. The cold air rushed her as she returned to the nightscape above her and she loosened her robe slightly to allow the colder temperature to cool her hot skin.

Thousands of possibilities rushed through Michiru's mind. Finally equipped with the knowledge she had previously desired, to understand how she and Haruka had confessed their love, now she didn't know what to do with it. It didn't change the fact that the Haruka of her time had somehow inexplicably changed.

Still, riding high on the emotions associated with her confession to her partner of the past, she yearned to again pursue the Tenoh Haruka of the present.

"_I don't know… when she'll awaken. She's not ready now, and I fear that any attempts to make her try may only push her father away. She may never realize her destiny, Michiru."_

Sailor Pluto's voice repeated in Michiru's head, her cryptic warning haunted her.

'_Why? What happened to Haruka in her past life to turn her away from her destiny in this one?'_ Michiru asked herself, her mood darkening. _'Surely it couldn't have been simply the millennia that had passed us by, for I'm not that different than I was in my last life. And somehow, it seems deeper than anything that could have happened in our short lives in this time, I can feel it. Could what changed her be something that happened in the past that I haven't yet remembered?' _

A frown settled on her face as she realized her latest memories had turned up only even more unanswered questions.

Her eyes returned to the constellations above and again she found Neptune, but this time, she surely saw Uranus, faint as she was, glowing next to her planet, and slowly the frown that had gripped her features melted into an expression of determination as she remembered her response to Pluto.

"_I'll find a way to help Haruka. I'll find a way to make it work."_

And she had meant what she said when she had sworn her allegiance to Pluto.

"_I'll find you first." _

And she still held herself to the promise she had issued Haruka ages ago. She had told her lover then, that if Haruka couldn't find her in their next life, that she'd find Haruka first. And Michiru planned to do so, for she knew now, that she had a duty to Haruka that transcended their senshi destiny.

Determined, Michiru swore to figure out whatever it was that had changed Haruka so drastically, even if it meant discarding Pluto's advice and confronting Haruka on her own.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Thanks, as always to my KS and beta, YoukaiMusashi!

Thanks also to the Damrak for the wonderful critique you left. I hope this chapter, and the next ones to follow clear up your concerns, and continue to meet your expectations.

Please, everyone, keep the reviews coming!

* * *

Preview, Chapter 6: 

"Listen, Michiru, Haruka hasn't been as receptive to all the memories and emotions you've experienced. You have to understand that if she sees you right now, she'll feel only fear and anger." Setsuna explained calmly.

Michiru's quiet voice threatened to break. "But _why_ Setsuna? What about me scares her?"

Setsuna sighed, her eyes garnet eyes trailing to the horizon. "You haven't remembered all of your memories of your past life yet, have you, Michiru? "

"All of them?" Michiru asked slowly, suddenly realizing that the beautiful harmony that had been her previous existence would have had to come to an end eventually.

Setsuna nodded sadly. "Have you seen the end of the Silver Millennium through your eyes?"

Michiru gasped as the memories flooded her.

… _On the white horizon of the Moonscape approached Earth's Queen Beryl, her four generals and a mass of humans, their eyes glazed and unthinking as they charged forward, slaughtering all in their path. But behind them all hung a hideous creature of death and destruction, its shadowed silhouette reaching out with clawed fingers and sharp teeth, an unnamed terror of monumental power. This hellish figure was alive, a Medusa of enormous proportion, a menacing creature that threatened to set the sky itself on fire._

_And it came from the Earth._

_The Moon Kingdom, the Silver Millennium, their Queen and Princess, their very lives… all they had ever known was under attack. _


	7. 6: Hopelessly Lost

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 6: Hopelessly Lost  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

"Hey, Haruka-kun, what's the deal? No pretty woman on your arm to celebrate another win?" The voice of Yamada Ichiro, Haruka's closest rival in the off-road motocross championships cut through the crowded room after another race.

A mud covered competitor who had come in seventh laughed heartily and shot a smile in Haruka's direction. "No joke, Tenoh. What happened to that hot brunette that you've been with the past few weeks?"

That started an uproar among the other guys and Haruka simply quietly evaded answering. "Ah." She replied, non-pulsed. Sometimes she didn't know what outcome would be worse with these men, for them to realize that she was a woman, or for them to realize that she was a woman who _liked_ women.

At least they weren't being sore losers, quite the contrary, her fellow racers either clamored to befriend her, or were jealous of her skill and popularity. _'What a waste of time and emotion.'_ She considered sourly.

Truth be told, Haruka was surprised that even her superficial competitors had remembered the last girl her sponsor had thrown on her arm. She searched her memories and could at least confirm that she had indeed been a brunette. Arisa. A glance at a nearby tabloid confirmed the woman's name and Haruka shrugged apathetically.

Just another nameless face in the long run, an entirely beautiful, yet forgettable supermodel paired with her to attract the media by her sponsors in order to uphold her 'dangerous playboy' persona. Not that she minded having such a beautiful woman on her arm, but the shallow women thrown at her simply didn't interest her.

Glancing back at the tabloid, Haruka noticed that the picture next to the one of Arisa showed herself standing with a blonde woman this time, the caption reading, 'Tenoh, a cheater?' Haruka rolled her eyes. She'd barely even remembered seeing that girl before. She flipped over the tabloid to hide the offending article from view.

In the end, all of the beautiful women she'd been paired with since making it big in the motorsports arena, be it car racing, motorcycle racing, or dirtbike racing, none of them had attracted her. Each one the same cookie cutter replica of the one before her, a slim figured, drop dead gorgeous older woman with the wit and personality of a potato chip, none had every managed to catch Haruka's attention.

No one could hold her attention, except for _her_…

Haruka frowned, her hazel eyes turning a stormy gray. She refused to even consider that her emotions for that confusing aqua haired girl were anything other than fear and repulsion, regardless of the previous 'dream' she'd experienced that had showcased this Michiru as someone wholly different than the stoic Sailor Neptune that came to take more than Haruka could rightfully give.

Suddenly, Haruka sensed the quietness of the room and realized that the others had cleared the lounge, returning to whatever passed for lives for each of them. She sighed loudly, tired from the long race, and pulled at the velcro closure around the neck of her protective gear, exposing the curve of her slender neck.

When a flash of aqua and cobalt caught her attention, her eyes immediately found something more than just her own reflection in the mirror.

_flashback _

"_You're so tense." The aqua haired woman said quietly, meeting her partner's hazel eyes in the reflection of the mirror as her fingers began working the soreness of Haruka's back. _

"_Michiru." Haruka sighed her lover's name and leaned back into her touch. _

_The cobalt eyed temptress smiled mischievously and worked her partner's sore muscles with the deft precision of violinist's fingers, her motions becoming the ebb and flow of the ocean's waves across her lover's skin. A rush of power coursed through Michiru to see the tough, unyielding tomboy before her bend to her supple touch, and as she worked a particularly tense knot in Haruka's back, Michiru's lips found the edge of her lover's ear._

"_I take it that the powers that be were rather upset when they found that you'd returned from your mission early without notifying anyone?" She asked the simple question quietly but with a depth to her voice that caused the woman under her fingers to shudder involuntarily. _

"_Ah." Haruka finally replied, attempting to regain some amount of control of her body under Michiru's mercilessly taunting touch. "I was only reprimanded with a few extra sets of physical training for my delinquent behavior."_

_Michiru cocked an eyebrow at her macho partner and retracted her lips from the edge of Haruka's ear, to her lover's obvious displeasure. "Ara? _Only_ that?" she mocked lightly, a playful expression on her features. _

"_Oh, and I suspect that you think you won't get in trouble too? That they won't figure out that it was you that I came back for? Don't forget that you conspired with this delinquent." Haruka said haughtily, challenging Michiru's gaze in the mirror._

_A seductive smile spread across Michiru's lips and she rested her hands on Haruka's shoulders. "Conspired with a delinquent? Is _that_ what we did?"_

_Haruka grinned confidently. As of three days ago, she now belonged to Michiru, and Michiru to herself, and she would have given anything in the solar system she was bound to protect to simply do it all over again. Haruka laced Michiru's fingers in her own and spun her lover around to her front, accommodating Michiru with her lap. _

_A blush crawled up the senshi of the sea's cheeks. Her forwardness slightly diminished once finding herself straddling her partner's thighs, she finally trusted her weight to Haruka's slim yet strong frame. Every touch and whisper from her lover still so new as to send a chill of joy and sheer exhilaration up her spine, Michiru let out a gasp as Haruka's lips found the tender skin of her neck this time. _

_Introducing Michiru to a new form of turnabout, Haruka's fingers reached into her lover's aqua hair and gently eased out the pin that held it bound, releasing her shoulder length curls in a sensual wave. _

_In a barely controlled frenzy that fueled them both, Haruka found the clasp to Michiru's dress, and with a boundless desire to re-explore her lover's body, slid its thin straps from her shoulders._

_/flashback _

The powerful emotions becoming too much for her overloaded mind, Haruka shook herself from her daydream. A heavy, panting breath and a fresh sheen of sweat across her body, the blonde realized that she had once again had a vision of Michiru, of Sailor Neptune, and she now understood a new layer of their relationship. They had been partners on the battlefield, friends as civilians, and also… lovers.

But to admit to the existence of their relationship at all would be to admit that these visions that had come unbidden into her mind were not merely dreams, but memories of a previous life. It would mean that she would have to admit to the obligations of not only a duty that awaited her in this life, but also a certain aqua haired woman that brought that destiny. If that were the case, would that cobalt eyed woman want her in this life as she had in their last? A feeling of completion foreign to her constantly lonely mood washed over her…

In a sudden wave of confusion, fear and frustration, Haruka's fist shattered the mirror before her and she ran from the lounge, small drops of her blood leaving a mournful trail of her escape.

* * *

Her transformation from a bloodied Sailor Neptune back to her pristine civilian form hadn't even slowed Michiru down as she ran through the tree lined suburban streets.

In her quest to find Haruka again, she found that it hadn't been difficult to find a schedule of the blonde's races online, she certainly had enough fan pages and official pages on the net. Michiru had been on her way to the motor cross arena when she had once again encountered youma, making it obvious that the monsters that heralded the Silence had reached even the outskirts of Tokyo. A bitter frown marred her features at the memory of the ugly creatures. This time, two of them had attacked.

Fueled by her intuitive instinct, Michiru had had to delay her quest to find Haruka once being forced to fight as Sailor Neptune. She had managed to dispose of the youma, but had found that her latest battle had been more difficult to win than her first. The creatures had gotten stronger and had grown larger in numbers. The revelation left Michiru with the uneasy knowledge that she would need the help of Uranus soon and feared her current solitary role in the battle against the silence without her partner by her side.

But at the moment with the threat of the youma gone, thoughts of duty were put on hold. She was late for a rather unscheduled meeting to which she assumed Pluto would be very upset, were she to know of its nature. At the moment, even the thought of awakening Uranus was not at the forefront of Michiru's mind. Instead, the memory of her confession to the Haruka of her past life encouraging her, she hoped to wake the _Haruka_ of the present first. Michiru desperately needed to remind Haruka of who she once was, who she could become once again if only Haruka would let her in.

'_The real Haruka is in there, hiding behind those frightened hazel eyes. I know it.'_ Michiru repeated the phrase like a mantra.

She ran down the streets, dodging the sea of people that slowly flowed towards her, heading for the bus stops. Hearing bits and pieces of others' conversations, she learned that Haruka had won another race. Michiru realized that she had missed the end of the race, but she hoped she hadn't missed the blonde racer. She realized with a slight, hopeless chuckle that she didn't even know what motor cross was, but considering the grubby attire of its fans, she concluded it was some kind of off road motorcycle race.

Nonetheless, such a trivial thought was useless. All that mattered was that she find this woman linked to her past life. She had to find Haruka, understand why she had so drastically changed from the lover she once was, and understand why she had yet to awaken as Uranus, why her natural carefree and passionate personality had changed so drastically.

A blush crawled up Michiru's cheeks as the memories of her past life resurfaced. She didn't know how she'd approach the stoic woman, or even what she'd say, but somehow, she knew she had to make Haruka understand that she needed Haruka as much as Haruka needed her.

Her cobalt eyes lit up when she finally saw the dirt track ahead of her, a squiggly path with hairpin turns, tall hills, humps and obstacles. She gazed in awe for a moment, considering the reflexes that must be needed to drive a dirtbike over such terrain, but she also knew it was naturally something that Haruka could do with ease.

Motion to her right caught Michiru's eyes and she saw a number of men wearing protective gear covered in mud and carrying helmets under their arms. She realized that they had been competitors in the race and hoped they would know where to find Haruka. She headed towards them, but before she could even speak, she was stopped by a loud, low whistle aimed in her direction.

"Hey there, hot stuff." One of the men with short black hair cat-called. "Looking for some fun?"

Michiru's eyes narrowed and turned icy. What she wouldn't have given to use Neptune's powers and give those hormone laden men a cold shower… "I'm looking for Tenoh Haruka." She replied coldly, yet confidently, her icy voice stamping out the hopes of the men.

"Keh." The black haired man snorted, his eyebrows furrowed in disgust. "That jerk gets all the women." He noticed the insisting features of the aqua haired woman standing defiantly in front of him before finally giving in. "He's in there." He said dismissively with a point of his thumb to the building they had exited.

Not even affording them a nod, Michiru sauntered away before dashing towards the small building, her heart pounding in her chest with anticipation. The door was almost within her reach when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and pulled back behind a row of evergreens.

Michiru barely had the time to stifle her scream, fearing one of the men had come back to try his luck again, when she recognized the scolding garnet eyes of her would be assailant.

"Pluto!" Michiru exclaimed and then took a second glance, noting the rather demure burgundy power suit the tall woman wore. "Setsuna…" Michiru corrected, averting her eyes, unable to meet her friend's look of disappointment. She had betrayed Setsuna's trust by pursuing Haruka before the time senshi had deemed she was ready.

At that moment, the sound of a door slamming caught Setsuna and Michiru's attention and through the dense foliage of the pines, exiting the building, they saw an angry Haruka emerge. Setsuna's grip around her friend's wrist tightened as Michiru's pupils dilated on the racer's form. Every fiber of her being longed to run to the blonde and sooth her unease, but she had to settle with simply trying to ascertain the reason for her anger. Her eyes narrowed as Haruka secured her helmet and mounted her bike.

'_Her hands are bleeding.' _Michiru realized, puzzled at the drops of blood that fell from tightly balled fists.

As quickly as she had emerged, Haruka was gone, leaving only a cloud of dust and the fading sound of her bike's engine in her wake.

The threat of an untimely meeting having passed, Setsuna finally released her grip around Michiru's wrist. "I told you she's not ready to be awakened yet." She said as calmly and consolingly as possibly.

Michiru's eyes shone with defiance. "I know, but-"

"But nothing, Michiru, she's not ready to see you yet! Do you want to push her even further away?" Setsuna interrupted. She sighed when her friend's determined frown fell into a hopelessly lost expression.

Quietly, Setsuna led the two of them to a bench, sure that Michiru was unaware that she was even walking. She silently cursed the fates that had made the reunion between Haruka and Michiru so difficult on each other.

"Listen, Michiru, Haruka hasn't been as receptive to all the memories and emotions you've experienced. You have to understand that if she sees you right now, she'll likely feel only fear and anger." Setsuna explained calmly.

Michiru's quiet voice threatened to break. "But _why_ Setsuna? What about me scares her? Why can't I make her see what I remember? Why can't I help her find the self she no longer is?"

Setsuna sighed, her eyes garnet eyes trailing to the horizon. The sapphire haired woman considered her friend sadly. She understood Michiru's urgency, but feared that the barriers that protected Haruka's true personality were too strong, too well built. It was too dangerous to try to break them down yet.

Michiru had to know that which had caused Haruka to build those walls in the first place. "You haven't remembered all of your memories of your past life yet, have you, Michiru?"

"All of them?" Michiru asked slowly, suddenly realizing that the beautiful harmony that had been her previous existence would have had to come to an end eventually.

Setsuna nodded sadly. "Have you seen the end of the Silver Millennium through your eyes? Have you seen that which contributes to Haruka's fear and anger?"

Michiru gasped as the memories flooded her.

_flashback _

_The sounds of the ball drifted to their ears. Light giggles and conversations floated aimlessly amongst the symphony of instruments that played joyously in celebration of Princess Serenity's eighteenth birthday. Of course, the outer senshi had been invited, but they had denied the opportunity to attend in favor of guarding the event, regardless of the fact that there was no supposed threat to it. Sailor Uranus eyed her partner with concern. Neptune was nervous. She didn't need to be as intuitive as her other half to understand that and so her white gloved hand reached out for her smaller lover's to give it a gentle, reassuring squeeze._

"_Do you wish we could have gone to the ball?" Neptune asked, yet her question was empty, meant only to fill the silence._

_Uranus chuckled lightly, suggestively. "I'd rather be anywhere as long as it was off duty and with you. But… we have our mission to think of. It would have been fun, though. With our separate missions, it's been so long since we've seen the inner senshi and our Princess." _

"_I miss Queen Serenity, too." Neptune admitted. "We've been so busy of late, and I know she's as worried as we have been. Even though we have no clue to this nameless threat that we fear looms, no target beyond our unease, she needs to maintain a strong front for her people." The sound of a festive firework being launched screamed through the air. Momentarily its hues of reds and oranges claimed precedence of the night sky, but its bright colors did nothing to relieve the pensive mood of the senshi of the ocean._

_Uranus agreed with her partner's sentiment, but frowned, unhappy that Neptune was so melancholy. It would do no good to brood over an answerless question. "Hotaru was alright when you left her?" She asked, changing the subject and hoping that idle conversation would ease her._

_The aqua haired woman nodded, though her eyes were distant. "She really wasn't feeling well though. The growth spurts are very painful."_

_The blonde frowned as she considered their adopted daughter. Hotaru had aged from a toddler to the physical appearance of fourteen in the short year that she'd been with them. Small manifestations of the knowledge and powers of Sailor Saturn had occurred in her within the last few weeks although there were still no detectable enemies outside their borders that should have triggered Saturn's awakening. The outer senshi had been on edge. Even the inner senshi had finally been notified of the situation and with the deteriorating relationship between Earth and the Moon, everyone had been cautious and careful of late. _

_Neptune and Uranus turned a corner, patrolling the exterior regions of the busy Moon Palace, weary eyes on the lookout for suspicious activity. A sudden commotion caught their attention and they straightened into battle ready positions as a tuxedo-clad man came briskly jogging up the daunting stairs to the palace, flustered from the undertaking in his formal ware. The senshi relaxed as they noted the presence of the Earth Prince, Endymion, merely arriving late to pay homage to Princess Serenity. Though Earthlings had been banned from the Moon due to recent uprising caused by jealousy of the mortals from the blue planet, the senshi trusted the Earth Prince and they knew Endymion's love for young Serenity was fierce. Besides, the human knew well enough to hide his identity while in the Moon Palace, for the Queen and her guards would surely dispose of him were he to be caught._

_Dismissing the Earthling, Uranus continued forward but then stopped when she realized that her partner was not at her side. She glanced back at her lover who was still frozen in place while her cobalt eyes followed Endymion as he entered the main ballroom. _

"_Neptune?" Uranus asked gently with kidding shock in her voice. "Don't tell me you've suddenly found an interest in _men_?"_

_A trace of a smile reached Neptune's lips and finally, she shook her head and followed after her partner, slipping an arm through Uranus' own for support and solace as she questioned her sudden unease._

"_Ne, have you seen Pluto lately?" The senshi of the wind asked, trying to coax her partner back from the introverted world in which she had retreated._

_The senshi of the ocean shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate on Uranus. "No. It seems she's been busy lately. I'd guess she's at her post." _

"_The Time Gate?" Uranus asked suspiciously._

_Neptune nodded deftly. "I wonder if she's pinpointed the disturbance we feel." She locked eyes with her partner. "The sea is restless."_

_Uranus frowned, wanting desperately to ease her partner, to replace the haunted look in her eyes with happiness, with passion… "Nonsense, Neptune. Remember? We haven't detected even the smallest amount of negative energy outside our solar system that would have triggered Saturn's awakening. Although I'm glad she's with us, Hotaru having been born at all has to be some kind of… fluke!" _

_The aqua haired senshi wanted to smile at her partner's childishly simple idea, but suddenly a chill ran down her spine. "Uranus, if we can't detect anything _outside_, then what if it's something _inside_ the solar system that triggered Saturn's birth? The inner senshi may not have known to look for it."_

"_You're thinking about Earth again, aren't you?" Uranus asked coldly, hating that planet for the attention her partner gave it. "Well stop it, it's not our job. It's the responsibility of the inner senshi to negotiate threats inside the solar system. Besides, there couldn't be anything from Earth powerful enough to have woken Sailor Saturn, not even Queen Beryl herself! Right?"_

_Uranus' bravado diminished somewhat when she received no response or even eye contact from her partner. Could Neptune really believe that the uprising on Earth was connected to Saturn's awakening? The blonde senshi stiffened at such a thought, but refused to surrender to her fears. Her desire to ease her partner was stronger. _

_With a quick movement, she grabbed Neptune by the wrist and spun her into her taller body, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman's waist. "I don't care what happens, Michiru, so long as I'm with you." Her words were light and husky, attempting to draw her partner away from her worries as she nuzzled her neck._

"_Maa…" Neptune sighed, both in surprise at her partner's actions that threatened to derail her train of thought and the use of her civilian name. She caught the senshi of the wind's eyes with her own and was immediately eased by the comfort she found in them. With a soft sigh, she surrendered to Uranus' ministrations and captured her lips with her own. If planet Earth did pose a threat, it was currently the furthest thing from Neptune's mind as another barrage of fireworks shot across the sky._

_Slowly, the pair backed against a wall, their forms disappearing into the shadows of the night as their actions became more brazen, more intimate. A delicious smile tugged at Neptune's lips as Uranus' hands slid sensuously down her back to cup her rear, causing the aqua haired woman to hike a leg up in response. As she felt her partner's lips on her neck and her warm breath in her ear, delightful chills ran down her spine as she allowed Uranus to support her weight. _

_As much as she wanted to continue, Neptune knew they had a duty to perform and if she didn't rein her lover in now, there would be no stopping her. Standing on her tiptoes, the senshi of the ocean reached her partner's ear. "Shhh. Stop now." She whispered hotly, belying her true desires._

_Uranus slowed her passionate ministrations but refused to stop completely. The taller woman's hands still caressed her lover's curves gently as her head bent to the crook of Neptune's neck. "I know." She responded in disappointed understanding, her voice breaking from the effort to control her passion._

_Slowly, in tune to the sonata that carried on the wind from the ballroom, the couple swayed back and forth, allowing the music to calm them. Finally, the gentle notes acted as a desperately needed anchor and the senshi of the wind's hands settled on Neptune's waist and the senshi of the ocean's lips left the warm skin of her partner's neck. Each sighed deeply, their passions quieted for a moment as they danced together in the slow music._

_That was when a single scream ripped through the courtyard below them. _

_Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus broke away from each other, looking down the long drop to the courtyard below where the scream was heard, but nothing of interest could be seen. It was then that Neptune looked up, high into the sky and she uttered a single, panicked gasp._

_On the white horizon of the moonscape approached Earth's Queen Beryl, her four generals and a mass of humans, their eyes glazed and unthinking as they charged forward, slaughtering all in their path. But behind them all hung a hideous creature of death and destruction, its shadowed silhouette reaching out with clawed fingers and sharp teeth, an unnamed terror of monumental power. This hellish figure was alive, a Medusa of enormous proportion, a menacing creature that threatened to set the sky itself on fire._

_Their enemy had been revealed. And it came from the Earth._

_The Moon Kingdom, the Silver Millennium, their Queen and Princess, their very lives… all they had ever known lay under attack. _

_Wordlessly, Neptune and Uranus leapt down into the courtyard, springing on their toes and acquiring defensive battle positions as they prepared to meet the threat. As commoners of the Moon Kingdom trampled past them, eager to escape the coming terror, the two outer senshi held their ground, and as the first wave of unthinking humans crashed into them, the first line of the new enemy was leveled by their powerful attacks._

"_Deep Submerge!"_

"_World Shaking!"_

_The voices of the two women cried out above the massacre as their elemental attacks thinned the ranks of the approaching onslaught. Talismans were quickly called upon and the sound of a single blade slicing through the air overpowered even the fireworks that crashed in the sky above, those in the palace still unaware of the slaughter occurring below them._

_Their senshi training had been intense, yet nothing could have prepared Neptune and Uranus for the sudden ambush of the unnamed force from Earth. In the confusion of the battlefield, Queen Beryl and the Earth generals slipped around them, too far away for even their long range attacks to reach them. Helpless to do anything else, the two outer senshi blindly fought the Earth humans, though they knew the attempt to be futile. _

"_Uranus, the source of their strength is that beast in the sky!" Neptune's voice carried on the wind to her partner as the senshi of the ocean balanced fighting the surge of opponents while utilizing her mirror to show her the truth of the battle._

_Uranus let go a brutal scream as she tore through the torsos of five men with a single blow of her Space Sword. A well placed elemental attack cleared the area around herself and her partner momentarily. "A whole lot of good that does us! These men are brainwashed, can you see it in their eyes? They're shielding her! There's no chance that we'll be able to reach that monster up there!" _

_The two senshi slouched slightly, using each other's backs for support as they attempted to catch their breath. The time they had been granted was minimal, and before they were ready, a new wave of humans had surged forward, "Where's Pluto when you need her?" Uranus barked as she readied another attack for the soldiers that rushed forward. _

"_Dead Scream."_

_A purple blast of energy thundered from the heavens themselves and entire ranks of the approaching humans were once again decimated, coating the ground with their blood and spent bodies. The air around the two outer senshi rustled with anxious energy, a tangible mist circled and gathered, and finally, Sailor Pluto was revealed, her Time Staff gleaming menacingly in the red tinted sky. She looked weary and worn, but eager to help her friends. _

"_You called?" The garnet eyed woman asked mystically._

_Uranus rolled her eyes. "Always the dramatic entry." She chided their ally. _

_Neptune smiled in greeting. Pluto's help was no doubt a relief, yet even between the three of them, somehow she knew they wouldn't be enough. The coming attackers would be more difficult to fight back. They were larger in numbers, their chances of holding these humans back from entering the palace was bleak. Her unease mounted. And the telling look in Pluto's avoiding expression told her all she needed to know. She had known all along. And …she knew what was to come. _

_Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Neptune's neck stood on edge. "Deep Submerge!" She shouted, her projectile slamming into the front that had begun their approach. Her long range attack momentarily spent, she looked up to that menacing figure in the sky and her senses went on full alert. The black creature was looking at the three of them, thoughtfully considering its opposition, and in a charge of light born from the center of its form, Neptune gasped as she realized her fate. Over her shoulder, she saw Pluto skirt out of the way, her sideways feint almost akin to teleportation, but she still sensed her partner next to her side._

"_Haruka!" Neptune shouted, her arms pushing Uranus' form away from her with all her senshi strength. She breathed a sigh of relief when the blonde haired woman landed far enough away from her, but she knew there was no time left to save herself. _

_A spark of blinding electricity arched through the sky and the air was suddenly alive with energy. It only took a second for Neptune to fall to the ground, unmoving. It had happened so fast that the aqua haired woman hadn't even had the chance to scream. _

_With wide eyes, Uranus' jaw hung slack, unable to form words as she gaped in disbelief at the sight in front of her. _

_The Uranian woman found herself crawling on her hands and knees to her partner's fallen body, stunned and unfeeling as the brainwashed humans apathetically marched around and past their fallen forms. Detachedly, she noticed the dark form of the creature in the sky advance without a second glance. The shouts and screams of death that emerged from the Moon Palace barely phased Uranus at all as she pulled her partner into her arms gently. _

_The Neptunian woman's skin was burnt, singed and in some places open and bleeding. Her aqua hair was blackened and her senshi fuku was charred and torn. Though her body was still beautiful despite the pain it had endured, her facial expression was twisted into a contorted grimace. "Michiru…" Uranus said shakily, her halting voice barely a whisper in the destruction that screamed around her._

_Neptune could barely feel her own body, but could sense her lover's arms around her. Her skin was numb and she had to wonder if she even had any left at all. Her internal organs were sluggish, threatening to stop completely. She felt like she was on fire, yet she was afforded strength and security of knowing that her partner had made it through safely. "Haruka?" She asked shakily. "Haruka, I…"_

_Blackness claimed her._

_/flashback _

"Haruka…" Michiru whispered, her voice barely audible, her mouth parched. Hot tears collected in her eyes and a shudder wracked her body as her hands shakily traced her arms as if expecting to find the injuries of her death by electrocution a millennia ago. She snorted unthinkingly, as though the smell of her own burnt flesh lingered still in her nostrils. She could detachedly sense Setsuna's grave concern, felt her supportive hand on top of her own. But it wasn't enough.

Nothing was enough without Haruka by her side.

"What happened to Haruka after I… died?" Michiru's words came haltingly, the violent memories playing again and again before her clouded eyes. Although the pain of reliving her own death was intense, the pain of not knowing what had happened to Haruka after she had died was even greater.

Setsuna fidgeted slightly on the park bench. The harsh reality of the fall of the Moon Kingdom and furthermore, the events that had happened after that were not topics easily discussed, for they were the events that truly held the answers to Michiru's questions.

The ancient woman's gaze hardened. Despite her reservations, it was time for Michiru to understand what had truly warped the woman once known as Haruka, and although Setsuna knew she faced certain repercussions for lingering too long from her post, she had a duty to her friend in addition to her duty as senshi. She owed at least that much to Michiru.

Michiru turned her mournful cobalt eyes to the Guardian of Time. "Setsuna, please… I need to know."

* * *

Author's Notes:

As always, special thanks to my awesome beta and KS, YoukaiMusashi!

Thanks also to everyone who's reviewed so far. Please continue to tell me what you like, and most importantly, what I can improve on!

Did you guys think this chapter would answer all your questions? You're not off the hook yet, the flashbacks aren't over!

As for the anonymous review that was left regarding Sailor Pluto being the senshi of destruction, and Saturn being that of time, well, obviously you didn't watch the anime or read the manga which would have told you otherwise. I'm sure Takeuchi-san had her reasons for changing the natures of those two mythological representations, which I refuse to dispute any more than I'd refuse to dispute the nature of Haruka and Michiru. It simply is the way it is and either way, has no relevance to this fic.

* * *

Preview, Chapter 7:

_Uranus shook her head, unbelieving. In the roar of the battle taking place around her, she heard only muted sounds as she stared dumbly at the broken beauty in her arms. This woman had shared with her the best of their years as friends and lovers. The thought of never hearing Michiru's signature giggle, never touching her sensuous curves or hearing the strings of her violin warm the room with her presence… it couldn't be true. Uranus simply couldn't imagine a future without her partner, couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had been left behind. Finally, her lover had gone to a world in which she couldn't follow._

_Unless…_

_Gently, Uranus settled Neptune's body on the dusty ground at her feet. Tenderly, she brushed a loose strand of charred, aqua hair back from her forehead. She afforded her lover a small smile before leaning down to plant a soft kiss across her forehead. _

"_Soon." She whispered. _


	8. 7: Eight Hundred Years

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 7: Eight Hundred Years  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

"Tea?" Michiru's voice was hollow. 

Setsuna nodded, her eyes unseeing as the steam from the hot water billowed from the cup before her. She had insisted she and Michiru discuss the remainder of the Silver Millennium some place more private.

Michiru's kitchen table provided an appropriate setting for Setsuna's need to reveal to the events after her death and before her subsequent rebirth. As the sun began to set in the western Tokyo sky, the two old friends sat quietly in the stiff, wooden seats. Both had hands clasped around untouched cups of tea, and both were lost to their own thoughts of the end of the Silver Millennium.

"So," Michiru recoiled at the volume of her voice in the quiet apartment. "Are you telling me that because I died first, leaving Haruka alone, that her subconscious is afraid of losing me in this life too?" Michiru finally put her thoughts into words.

Setsuna sighed. Unfortunately, the many events that had warped Haruka's original personality just weren't that easily worded. "I'd say that loosing you is part of what scared her. Its certainly the main reason she changed so drastically after your death."

Michiru's brows met in frustration, confusion weighing heavily on her. "But she's never even met me!"

"And you've never even met her and look how strongly you feel for her, having retained your memories of your past life, both good _and_ bad." Setsuna pointed out, finally taking a sip of her tea.

Michiru blushed and stuttered. "Are…are you implying that she remembers mostly bad memories?" Michiru met Setsuna's garnet eyes and sensed she had nit the nail on the head.

"Mostly the bad ones, yes." Setsuna agreed.

"But how could she fear loosing me in this life when I already feel so damned strongly for her?" The aqua haired girl was startled at her own outburst, but did not turn defiant eyes from her companion.

"Like I said, your death is only one of the events that turned Haruka into a shell of who she once was." Setsuna tried to explain, finding the complexities of the tale difficult to retell.

"Did she blame me for leaving her then?" Michiru guessed desperately, biting back a sob that threatened to escape from her throat. She needed answers.

"Initially, no. Though I fear her mind might have warped even that memory after it all… ended." The garnet eyed woman responded cryptically as she swirled the cooling liquid in the teacup.

Grasping at straws, trying to connect the pieces of her ally's halting puzzle on her own, Michiru continued searching for clues. How could she help Haruka if she didn't even know what had gone wrong other than that she had had to witness her death? "Then, she didn't follow me in death?"

Silence stretched on for what Michiru imagined was an eternity.

"No. Not exactly." Setsuna finally responded. She cursed her lack of tact. It had been far too long since she had consoled another. Michiru deserved more. Much more. And so she spurred herself forward. "Haruka wasn't so lucky to follow in your footsteps. Her battle had only just begun after you died. Her pain lasted much, much longer."

Setsuna's heart broke to see the pained expression she had caused on her closest friend's face. Michiru was seconds away from a breakdown. She needed answers, answers that Setsuna felt incapable of delivering with the spoken word.

With a gentle sigh, the sapphire haired woman closed her eyes and reached for her ally's hand. Her memories would be able to speak louder than her words ever would.

Michiru gasped as Setsuna's memories flooded her.

_flashback _

_Each muscle in her body spasmed and quivered, overloaded and in shock. Her wide hazel eyes looked down at her unmoving partner in disbelief. Her fingers couldn't feel a pulse but what was worse, her very heart felt a terrible disconnect from her lover's soul._

_Michiru was dead._

_Uranus shook her head, unbelieving. In the roar of the battle taking place around her, she heard only muted sounds as she stared dumbly at the broken beauty in her arms. This woman had shared with her the best of their years as friends and lovers. The thought of never hearing Michiru's signature giggle, never touching her sensuous curves or hearing the strings of her violin warm the room with her presence… it couldn't be true. Uranus simply couldn't imagine a future without her partner, couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had been left behind. Finally, her lover had gone to a world in which she couldn't follow._

_Unless…_

_Gently, Uranus settled Neptune's body on the dusty ground at her feet. Tenderly, she brushed a loose strand of charred, aqua hair back from her forehead. She afforded her lover a small smile before leaning down to plant a soft kiss across her forehead. _

"_Soon." She whispered. _

_Slowly, Uranus stood and turned to face the flood of humans who continued past them, a solid wall of brainwashed soldiers, unthinkingly following the one in front of him. The winds gathered around her form, her short blonde hair whipping frantically in the building storm as a cold, calculating grimace gripped her face. With a powerful recoil, Uranus thrust herself into the throng of humans, a soul shattering scream of agony piercing all other sound as she deftly wielded her blade, decapitating, slaying, amputating and dropping the humans by the handful. Her hazel eyes were clouded, raged, as unfeeling as the mannequin-like humans she slaughtered mercilessly. _

_Pluto, stunned, saw Uranus' distress cry and absolute recklessness for what it was. The grieving woman sought to follow her partner into death. _

_Shakily, the sapphire haired woman picked herself up off the bloodied ground. Her repeated attempts to call to her friend went unnoticed and so, as a last ditch effort, she slid behind her tall ally. Winded from dodging the blonde's erratic weapon and the spray of blood it left in its wake, the senshi of time managed to slide her arms around Uranus from behind. Finally, it took her full weight hanging off the senshi of the wind to slow Uranus down._

"_Damnit, Haruka! Would Michiru have wanted this? Look at yourself!" Pluto panted heavily, biting back hot tears as Uranus finally stopped fighting._

_Uranus' labored breathing slowed as she glanced down at her blood covered sword and once pristine fuku. With a metallic clatter, her blade fell to the ground next to several mutilated bodies. Her shaking hands found the sides of her face in anguish as the last of the unthinking humans finally marched apathetically past them. Devastated, the tall senshi dropped to her knees in despair. _

_Pluto flinched as screams of death and terror from the palace above her reached her ears, yet she steadied herself. Fate had predetermined this future, even if that future had curiously been rewritten only days prior. There was nothing she could do now to prevent the inevitable, nothing she was permitted to do given the confines of her duty. A large explosion sent pieces of the palace walls flying over their heads and the sapphire haired woman closed her eyes in anguish as she felt the souls of the inner senshi fade and die out one by one. She knew her Princess would be next and she bit her lip, willing the images in her head to disappear. She was powerless to change this future._

_Instead, she focused on her last remaining friend. "Uranus?" Pluto's soft voice called to the torn, broken woman who trembled on her knees with her back to her._

_Hearing her ally's voice, the sandy haired woman stopped shaking abruptly and slowly looked over her shoulder icily. Pluto gasped at the enraged eyes that stared back at her. _

"_You." Uranus' deep voice, lower than a growl, pierced Pluto. "You knew this was going to happen! And you didn't do anything to stop it!" She suddenly shouted, spinning and finally rising into a threatening crouch to face her ally._

_Pluto rose to the challenge, offended by the accusation. "No. You know nothing of the burden of my so-called _gift_ to see the future, so don't presume that you do! I can't undo the past, goddamn it, and I can't change that which was decided. I didn't know that Neptune was going to die right in front of you, Uranus, so stop pitying yourself!" _

_The two warriors stared at each other primally. Surprisingly, Uranus was the first to falter. A heart wrenching sob shook her frame as the understanding of Pluto's words sunk in. _

_It was wrong of her to blame her friend, Setsuna, who had stood by her and Michiru's side, as a sister and as a mutual mother to their adopted daughter. She knew nothing of Pluto's duty to see the future other than one rule, that the laws of the Time Gate were absolute and final. Surely, Pluto was as powerless as she was to whatever future had been determined. Nothing could be done. Her partner was lost forever. _

_Her initial bravado and rage diminished from her anguish, Uranus found her desire to follow Neptune's footsteps by her own hand lessened. Slowly, she picked up her talisman by its jewel encrusted hilt and slid it across the bloodied ground to her ally. Pluto looked at the sword questioningly. _

"_Would you do me the honor? I've lost my will." Uranus requested brokenly. A distant smile on her lips, she glanced towards the horizon. "Michiru always was the stronger of the two of us. I… I can't do this on my own." _

_Pluto's eyes widened as she detected the shame in Uranus' avoidant hazel eyes that revealed the guilt she felt for not being as quick to throw herself into death's grasp as readily as her partner had. Never would she have imagined that the strong, brave senshi of the wind would ask someone to take her life. "Absolutely not, Uranus."_

_Finally, the senshi of the wind's desperate hazel eyes met Pluto's troubled garnet ones. "Setsuna… please." She begged._

_Slowly, Pluto stood, Uranus' Space Sword in one hand as she offered her other hand to her friend on the ground. "Neptune… Michiru would be upset to hear such words from your mouth, such defeat. She died for you to live, not to throw her gift away. She would never want your death, Haruka. _Never_."_

_A small chuckle left Uranus' lips, her eyes shielded by her blood encrusted bangs. Pluto's words were true, that, she couldn't deny. "But what does it matter? It's all over anyway." She stated hopelessly, indicating the silent, broken Moon Palace above them. The battle had ended before they had barely blinked._

_Pluto shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Uranus. It's not over. We still have our duty to attend to."_

"_Duty?" Uranus asked bitterly, a trace of anger resurfacing. _

"_We're still sworn to protect our Queen, and even then, to protect this solar system." Pluto reminded her gently._

"_My duty is nothing without Neptune by my side." Uranus spat, her cold hazel eyes defiant as she stared down her ally._

_Pluto frowned seriously, her grip tightening around her Time Staff as the metal weapon bit into the dusty ground at her feet. "You would become a traitor then?"_

_Uranus again hung her head. She knew the answer to that question. Although she had pledged her heart to her lover, she had long ago pledged her life to her Queen. Her existence was forfeit to her duty._

_Pluto grabbed her friend's hand firmly and pulled Uranus to her feet. "Pull yourself together, Uranus." The older woman said confidently. "Now, lets get to Queen Serenity. We haven't much time."_

_The blonde woman nodded and finally fell into step behind her taller ally, all the while, her gaze lingering over her shoulder at her fallen partner._

* * *

"_My Queen." Pluto's desperate voice caught in her throat upon seeing Queen Serenity slumped over her throne, clutching her bleeding ribcage in pain. Even Uranus showed an amount of concern on her hardened face._

"_My daughter… the inner senshi… all dead." Serenity mumbled brokenly. Finally noticing the two outer senshi watching her, a sad smile crept across her face. "Pluto. Uranus. I'm… I'm so sorry."_

_Pluto approached her sobbing Queen and laid a hand on her shoulder. There was once a time when the compassionate woman had done the same for her. _

"_It's all my fault!" Serenity cried. _

_Pluto righted the Queen of the Moon, helping her to sit straight to alleviate some of the stress of her injuries. "None of this is your fault, and you know that. Even I was powerless to see this twist of fate, this newly decided destiny."_

_Serenity nodded her head in saddened comprehension. "But I can amend this injustice." She said with renewed fervor. Loosely held in her grasp, a bright light glowed from her clasped fingers. The Ginzuishou. Pluto and Uranus gasped at the implication. Queen Serenity would sacrifice herself. _

"_With this, I will seal Metallia back to where she came. Then I'll bring them all back. When the time comes, all of our people will be reborn." The Queen promised. Finally, her eyes trailed back to Uranus. "And when your time comes, Uranus, you'll be reborn along with her."_

"_My Queen…" Uranus began, understanding her implication._

_Serenity held up a shaky hand to silence her warrior. "In your next lives, you won't remember the pain you witnessed here today. I don't want any of you to remember this anguish." She paused in thoughtful consideration and when she spoke again, her voice had quieted. "No. I don't think that's quite true. Michiru. She will remember you, Haruka. This, I am sure of."_

_Uranus' lower lip trembled but she held herself together. "Anything to be with her again, my Queen."_

"_It's only a lifetime away, my child." Serenity said sweetly before doubling over in a coughing fit, flecks of blood staining her lips as she clutched her side tenderly._

_Uranus' breath caught in her throat as she swallowed deeply to bite back a wave of painful emotion caused by her compassionate Queen. Though she and her lover had kept their relationship somewhat secret, Serenity had known. In that short exchange she shared with her Queen, Uranus was once again filled with the desire to protect the remains of her Queen's Kingdom, the remains of the home she had shared with her lover. She afforded Serenity a brief bow of her head in understanding. _

_The Queen again turned to Pluto, her eyes softening still. "Watch over her, Pluto. I'm counting on the two of you."_

"_Serenity…" Pluto said breathlessly, concerned for her Queen.  
_

"_This is your time to say goodbye." Serenity returned dismissively, her gaze hinting at Uranus as she brushed off Pluto's concern. _

_The scuffle of the Moon Queen's two feline retainers could be heard as they approached and suddenly, Luna and Artemis came bounding into the broken throne room, rushing to their injured monarch. _

_Silently, Pluto and Uranus took their cue to leave. _

* * *

_The senshi of time stood behind her friend as Uranus once again found herself kneeling at Neptune's side. It was time to say her goodbyes. The tall senshi pulled the smaller body back into hers and stifled a surprised whimper at the shock of her already cold skin. "Michiru." She whispered, finally allowing a single tear to slide down her face. "I'm so sorry."_

_Suddenly, Uranus sensed another presence in the silence of the impromptu battlefield and unconsciously, she pulled Neptune's body closer to her. When she finally looked up, she noticed Pluto's shocked eyes were locked on a figure only a few feet away._

"_Hotaru." Pluto and Uranus whispered in unison._

_The black haired girl shook her head mechanically, her Silence Glaive alive with the glint of the fire that still burned in the night sky. "No. I am Sailor Saturn." She said, her voice flat. Uranus recoiled at the image of her adopted daughter turned senshi of destruction. Pluto laid a calming hand on Uranus' shoulder at the shock._

"_Don't pity me, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Pluto. This is my destiny. It is what I was born to do. But please, thank Setsuna-san, Haruka-san and Michiru-san." The young girl bent slightly to bow to the deceased woman especially. "For they showed me what it was to love."_

_Uranus nodded numbly as the alien girl's purple eyes turned cold again. _

"_But you'll have to leave now. The Queen has sealed Metallia and now it is my duty to destroy the planets of the Moon Kingdom so that those who once lived on them may again be reborn." Saturn said. Suddenly, she noticed Uranus' grip on her partner tighten and once again, her dark, haunted eyes softened. "Don't worry, Haruka-papa. You'll be with Michiru-mama again."_

_Uranus gasped in understanding and sadness, yet she found little solace in the peaceful expression of the forever aging child who was predestined to die for the sins of their solar system. Here, the young girl who was once her daughter was the one reassuring her in the face of her own death. _

_Finally succumbing to her duty and rewritten destiny, Uranus shed the last tear she allowed herself and released her lover's body gently to the ground before stepping back resignedly._

_Pluto and Uranus bowed to Sailor Saturn as the young girl headed for the remains of the Moon Palace to fulfill her role. _

_The senshi of time and the senshi of wind hovered in the vastness of space, their eyes fixed on the clouds of dust left from the remains of the only homes they'd known. Now that Saturn had fulfilled her destiny, the Silver Millennium, one thousand years of peace and prosperity, had ended, leaving Pluto and Uranus the last remaining members of a dead civilization._

_Pluto laid an exhausted arm on Uranus' shoulder. "Together, we'll protect what's left of our planets." _

"_That's not what you meant to say." The blonde said simply, her saddened eyes still lingering on the devastation of the kingdom on the Moon._

_Pluto sighed resignedly. Almost as if Neptune had passed some of her intuitiveness to her partner, Haruka had hardened with partner's death. She knew it would be of no use trying to sugar coat their arrangements to her ally. "No. You're right. _You_ will protect the solar system. I must return to the Time Gate."_

_Uranus nodded apathetically. It didn't matter to her. Pluto was needed elsewhere. She would protect the solar system by herself. In the wake of the destruction that had ended the Silver Millennium, there wouldn't be much, if anything to defend against anyway. Uranus would honor her word and her duty but only in the broadest sense of it's binding, by its loosest interpretation, and in the meantime, she would wait for the day that would return her to Michiru. _

_Pluto glanced at her ally sadly. Haruka, for all intents and purposes, was dead. The woman's normally bright, happy eyes were dull and hooded. A tight, gaunt expression, wrinkles above her forehead and a perpetual frown had replaced her carefree smile and jovial expressions. Her love of life, her flippant attitude, all of it was gone. In the span of an hour, Uranus had become an empty shell of the woman Haruka once was, now driven solely by duty, the only thing she had left. _

_With her lover gone, her spirit had been broken. The cold, guarded woman in front of her was no longer Tenoh Haruka. She was now as distant as her name suggested._

_/flashback _

Setsuna slowly removed her hand from Michiru's arm. The distraught woman needed a reprieve from the events that lived on in Pluto's memories.

"Setsuna…" Michiru whispered, her voice raspy, tears streaming slowly down her porcelain cheeks as though she had lived through Uranus' pain herself. The senshi of the wind had lived through the death of her lover. She had lived through the loss of her friends and Queen. She had witnessed the tragic sacrifice of her own daughter. She had lost her own homeworld, the people she had sworn to give her life for. And now that the threat was gone, along with all she had loved with it, Uranus had faced a grim and lonely life ahead of her, a life devoid of anything to care for. And she couldn't even give that life away, as that very thing bound her to the solar system.

The sapphire haired woman looked away, unable to meet Michiru's piercing gaze. She would not lie to her friend. She couldn't. "I wanted to watch over her, even though she knew I had to return to the Time Gate. Over the next eight hundred years I tried to-"

"Eight hundred years?" Michiru interrupted in disbelief.

"Yes." Setsuna replied matter of factly. "It was that period of waiting that completely damaged Haruka's psyche."

"Damaged her psyche?" Michiru asked almost bitterly, a dangerous edge to her voice. "Damnit, Pluto, how can you be so cold?"

Setsuna winced at her friend's formal address and when she finally met Michiru's icy eyes, her own couldn't hold back the hot tears that welled there. "I was scared." She whispered. "I was hurt. Haruka and yourself had taught me much about friendship, but I'd never dealt with _those_ feelings before!"

Michiru's eyes widened at Setsuna's unpredictable outburst. All she could do was extend a supportive hand to her friend's own as quiet sobs wracked the Guardian of Time's frame.

"I let Haruka… Uranus, rot out there for most of those eight hundred years! My duty barred me from leaving my post due to the newly changed future. But I did leave, on several occasions, even if only under the pretense of helping her in the few sporadic battles she encountered! I tried to be there for her. Oh God, Michiru, I tried so hard, but I couldn't help her. She was beyond help. She was…"

Michiru stood and slid her chair next to Setsuna to wrap her arms consolingly around her shoulders. Even through the terrible memories that Setsuna had showed her, Michiru had never seen such emotion from her stoic ally, and the distraught vibes she sensed from the garnet eyed woman rocked her to the core. Suddenly, Michiru understood how difficult the events she had witnessed were not only for Uranus, but for Pluto, too. Pluto, who had always carried the heavy responsibility of the future on her shoulders.

"Shhh." Michiru eased supportively. "It's not your fault, Setsuna. It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry, Michiru, I'm so sorry." Setsuna whispered, finally calming slightly as the tears stopped flowing. She finally found the courage to meet Michiru's understanding cobalt gaze. It was time for Michiru to know what had happened to the love of her past life. It was time to answer Michiru's final unanswered question.

Setsuna reached towards Michiru once more. "Are you ready?"

Michiru nodded.

_flashback _

_Moment by moment Uranus wished for an enemy strong enough to defeat her, she wished for her loneliness to deteriorate her mind to the point of unfeeling, she wished for her heart to simply stop beating… after all, it had already been broken by suffering an unspeakable loss. But none of these wishes had ever been granted. The never ending days in space merged together and she couldn't tell if the eight hundred years she'd spent guarding the remains of the fallen Moon Kingdom and the solar system it once presided over had really felt that long, or, if it had felt longer. _

_In recent years, the solar system had finally mended itself. While the Earth had always remained habitable as the humans picked up the pieces of their broken civilization, the other eight planets had finally just settled in Sailor Saturn's wake, their atmospheres, though no longer fit for humanoid life, had once again returned. Not that Uranus had visited any of them. The broken remains of her dead civilization didn't interest her. Instead, she spent her time on remote outposts on the fringes of the solar system, wandering the vastness of space._

_Uranus found herself bored. She itched for a good fight and it had been more than a century since her last worthwhile battle. Even then, that had simply been a case of two lost aliens in an ailing ship searching for help. She hadn't cared. She didn't care who it was or why it was there, if it invaded her solar system, she'd kill it._

_And that was all the senshi of the wind had left, sporadic battles and avoiding any traces of her past, the pain of what she'd lost being too great to remember. In her centuries of loneliness, she had had no visitors, save a strange woman in a green fuku similar to her own who spoke to her with an air of familiarity. The tall, garnet eyed woman had tried to help her in battle on several occasions, but the bitter Uranus had always refused her help, always preferring her solitude, much to the strange woman's irritation. _

_Uranus' memories were disintegrating, and the centuries that ticked by without the promise of rebirth being fulfilled choked her with an empty rage._

_A beep on the console before her alerted Uranus to an alien presence entering her territory. A distorted grin gripped Uranus' lips and in a flash, she had called her talisman to her and bolted for the door._

* * *

_It was on a rocky outcropping of an asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter that she found them. How they had even slipped past her defenses, Uranus couldn't tell. She hid behind the cliff face as she considered the three alien creatures. They were large and particularly nasty looking. Their blocky bodies were covered by thick, brown skin and their squared off heads with black manes of long hair that grew between long, pointy ears were indicative that they were a mercenary race. Uranus shrugged. It didn't matter who they were or how strong they were. They were in her solar system and so deserved to die. _

_Strategy and caution were both thrown to the wind as the blonde simply charged ahead unthinkingly, her blade swinging, her own voice in her ears as she shouted unintelligibly. _

_Startled, the creatures rose to the challenge, and surprised to see the gaunt, slim frame of a humanoid woman in full battle cry, they figured she was no threat. That was their first mistake._

_Uranus took out the first one she came across, her Space Sword slicing cleanly through his waist effortlessly. Her grin widened when his friends screamed in rage as his blood coated the rocky ground and sizzled in the fire they had built._

_They were large and their forms unwieldy, but they were also surprisingly fast and agile, matching the speed of the senshi of the wind effortlessly. Uranus was caught off guard as she suddenly found herself caught between the two aliens with laser rifles pointing at either side of her. _

_Unceremoniously, and without a common language to speak useless words, Uranus had been caught. _

_The sounds of the simultaneous rifle charges echoed in her ears and with a soft, almost thankful smile, Uranus knew she had met her end. But suddenly, she clenched her fists. She refused to go down alone._

"_World Shaking!"_

_Uranus' palms crashed against the ground at her feet, and as both lasers tore straight through her middle, her own destructive energy reached out and engulfed her attackers in a blinding rush._

_The aliens were dead before they hit the ground, but as Haruka felt warm, coppery blood spill from her mouth, she realized that she hadn't been so lucky. She knelt on the jagged, rocky surface of the asteroid, her hands closing over the gaping hole in her stomach, but the blood continued to seep over her hands and through her back regardless._

_The warmth of her own blood spilling from her body brought a gruesome smile to her face. "Finally." She whispered, her voice hoarse from centuries of misuse._

_She initially ignored the apparition of the strange, sapphire haired woman standing before her, thinking it to merely be her delirious mind, but when the woman knelt to the ground with her, crying, she realized she had seen her before. Had she not pushed this nameless woman away several times centuries ago?_

"_Haruka…" The voice, somehow familiar, called._

_Uranus' brow furrowed in concentration. Haruka? Where had she heard that name before? _

_The garnet eyed woman looked down at her old friend, a wave of guilt washing over her. "You may be past the point of comprehending me." She said haltingly. The words were obviously hard for her to say, yet she forced herself forward._

"_I regret I couldn't be there for you more in these past centuries, Haruka, and I'm sorry you have to suffer this pain. But… I know this is what you wanted, so I didn't interfere. Queen Beryl's forces are amassing again, and even if your help won't be needed in that fight, surely it'll be needed in the future, and so the time of your rebirth draws near. Uranus, can you hear me?" Pluto shook her friend's shoulders gently._

_Rebirth. That triggered a long dead synapse in Uranus' exhausted mind and she squeezed the woman's hand weakly. Pluto sighed softly as she bit back tears, saddened by the image of her delirious and dying friend._

"_I promise in your next lifetime you won't suffer so badly." Pluto said confidently as she smiled sadly at her dying friend. "It'll still be difficult for you, but Michiru will be there to help you… once you learn to let her in. Do you understand, Uranus? The pain you've experienced at the end of this life will be your biggest obstacle in the next." _

_Uranus was too far gone to comprehend or even hear the strangely familiar woman's words and as the image of an aqua haired woman took the place of her fading eyesight, a pained smile crossed her lips. She recognized this cobalt eyed woman from long, long ago, didn't she? Michiru, Neptune, those had been her names. They had been passionate lovers and fierce partners. Some of the long suppressed memories trapped in the recesses of Uranus' mind resurfaced. _

_Yet for all the pleasant emotions that came with Michiru and Neptune, her lover and partner was also associated with an intense pain of guilt, longing and sadness. This selfless woman had died for Uranus while Uranus had spent the past eight hundred years wanting to throw that life away. Michiru would have been disappointed and hurt once she'd realized what had become of her lover. _

'You wouldn't even recognize me now, Michiru.'_ She thought longingly to the beautiful apparition. _'Time and loss have changed me greatly. I've… I've become a shell of who Haruka once was. I'm no longer the woman you knew and loved. I'm sorry but I… I don't think you'll want me anymore.'

'Michiru?'

_Already her mind was beginning to distort her memories, and in her exhausted and distorted mind's eye, the woman who had been her lover had agreed with her emotions of guilt and self hate. The apparition before her faded slightly, and slowly, Michiru turned icy cobalt eyes away from her before turning around to retreat into the mists. _

_Uranus watched her go. She had been right, she didn't deserve Michiru. It was a sign, she decided, even if her own mind had imagined such a denial._

_Her guilt and resignation leading her, Uranus shut her eyes, no longer feeling her body, and began to block the aqua haired woman from her mind, closing off the memories of she who represented love and loss, friendship and duty. Her mind distorted the image of her lover, forgetting Michiru's softness and love and replacing it with Neptune's cold fierceness and dedication to duty. Her mind systematically erected barrier after barrier, burying the importance of her love for Michiru, knowing that in her next life, memories of her lover would only remind her of how empty she had become without her partner. _

_With the thought of her imminent rebirth fueling her, Uranus' mind built walls around her heart in a fierce determination to keep everyone at arm's length, for if she didn't let anyone close to her, how could she ever be hurt again as she had in this life? She pushed away her dedication to duty, for certainly, duty was what had destroyed her happiness once already. _

_With these defenses in place, even if she would again be a hollow shell in her next life as she had become at the end of this one, at least she could spare herself the pain of reliving such a loss again. She knew she'd need the same tough defenses to live a life without her soulmate. A soulmate she didn't deserve._

_As the darkness around Uranus intensified and she sensed that she had breathed her last, Uranus almost chuckled as she asked herself, _'But could I ever really forget her?'

_Finally, her pain ended as the blackness claimed her._

_/flashback _

Silent sobs wracked Michiru's body as Pluto's memories retracted from her mind. This time it was Setsuna who had wrapped her arms around her shoulders in condolence. Eight hundred years. Her lover had spent eight hundred years wandering the emptiness of space, forgetting everything she loved and everything she was.

The pain of what she had lost had consumed her.

Michiru felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She suddenly wished it were she who had taken on that terrible burden…

"No." Setsuna said quietly, causing Michiru to jump slightly in her arms, having caught her off guard with her own sense of intuition. "Don't blame yourself. It won't get you anywhere."

"I know, but…" Tears came to Michiru's eyes once again as she replayed Setsuna's memories. "Just like Uranus approached me in my dream, I approached her at her death, didn't I? I think I was there to greet her."

"Its highly probable." Setsuna agreed, slipping back into her more stoic nature. "You must have sensed her death and gone to meet her. Only you didn't know what she'd been through, what her mind had done to itself during eight hundred years of anguish and solitude. So although you approached her, her mind distorted your image."

"So then, since Uranus approached me in a dream this life, then that means that Haruka's real personality is still there, locked away at the bottom of her soul, right?" Michiru asked confidently, her recent revelations aiding in the conclusion she had come to days before.

Setsuna cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "In theory… yes." She examined her old friend carefully, realizing that Michiru's intuitiveness had helped the young woman to realize that buried underneath the harsh exterior and unhappy nature of the present day Haruka, lay the frightened, suppressed, true personality of her partner. And it was Michiru's compassion, Michiru's love for Haruka, that urged her to help Haruka see who she really is, that unbeknownst to herself, Haruka herself had been waiting for Michiru to break those barriers so she could join Michiru. Perhaps, she had known all along…

The senshi of the ocean's brows were furrowed, her mind already working on a plan. Sure, she was upset that their happiness was taken from them at the end of the Silver Millennium. She was upset that her lover had had to endure eight hundred years of solitude, only to end up losing her Self and distorting her destiny in the process. But she'd be damned if she'd let that destiny that Haruka's fear had created keep them apart. Michiru knew that they were better off together, their physical and mental unity had shown her that. And even if she had to defy the future itself, she'd find some way to ease the pain inside of Haruka's heart.

"Well then," Michiru began, a glint of light shining in her cobalt eyes, color returning to her pale, tear stained cheeks. "That just means that all I have to do is find out how to bring her out of her shell, how to break down the barriers she erected before her death."

A small smile touched Setsuna's lips. Michiru never was one to be defeated, another parallel from the aqua haired woman's past life. "If anyone can do it, Michiru, it's you." Setsuna finally responded, a ghost of a laugh in her voice.

Michiru looked up at her companion with a surprised expression. "But I thought you didn't want me to approach her yet? Does that mean that-"

Setsuna leant her friend a scolding expression. "I never said it was going to be easy, no matter when you try to approach her. You know how stubborn she is."

Michiru smiled mischievously. "I do."

Setsuna rolled her eyes at Michiru's implication. She didn't want to know. From now on, Uranus' awakening was in Michiru's hands. Michiru had proved to her that she was ready to take on the challenge of approaching the changed Haruka. She was armed with the history of what had warped her lover, and she was defended by her own perseverance and love for the other woman. Michiru couldn't change the past, but she _could_ change the future. "Then, when the times come, you'll know what to do. I have faith in you, Michiru."

Michiru looked back at her friend with determination in her cobalt eyes. "I've waited eight hundred years to find her again. I'm not giving up now."

* * *

Author's Notes: 

As always, thanks to my awesome beta and KS, YoukaiMusashi.

Thanks also to each and every reader who has reviewed! Your continued support is always welcomed, so please keep reviewing!

* * *

Preview, Chapter 8: 

Although her confident expression managed to remain non pulsed, Haruka swallowed audibly, her breath catching in her throat, her heart beating wildly in her chest. The howling wind that had filled her ears for weeks suddenly ceased. A blessed silence heralded by a petite girl with an astounding beauty, she moved fluidly through the crowds with inherent grace and quiet sophistication. The girl's shoulder length aqua hair and piercing cobalt eyes were a beacon that Haruka couldn't ignore. In any lifetime.


	9. 8: Where the Sky and the Ocean Met

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 8: Where the Sky and the Ocean Met  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

The yellow convertible crested a ridge in the cliff, its tires biting into the pavement of the oncoming lane as the blonde driver cornered at twice the recommended speed. She downshifted quickly, slamming the transmission from fifth gear and into third. The engine screamed with rapture as she floored the gas pedal and threw the car into the next turn. The wind whipped past her, howling in her ears. 

Haruka refused to acknowledge its message.

Yet, as the small car lithely swung through the last of the mountain road's downhill hairpins, she was faced with the open span of ocean ahead of her. The mere sight of the ebb and flow of the waves calmed her ragged nerves and almost unthinkingly, her foot eased off the gas and her speed slowed to a more appropriate pace.

The wind ceased its howling as Haruka set the cruise control on the long, straight path ahead of her, her hazel eyes attracted to the sparkling waters that reached to the horizon.

She felt as if the sea was calling to her.

Haruka's heart skipped a beat. She felt like she was missing something. Taking one hand off the steering wheel, she did a pocket check, confirming she had her wallet. A quick pat of the passenger seat assured her that she had remembered her gym bag. What had caused the nagging feeling of forgetfulness?

As her eyes trailed to the horizon, where the sky and the ocean met, a sudden wave of incompleteness swallowed the blonde haired woman.

_flashback _

_Her senshi communicator came to life, but she disregarded the alarm. She had already known something was wrong. The bond she had formed with her partner had become a tangible object and had already alerted her to trouble. She had transformed into Sailor Uranus and had fled for the throne room before the others had even summoned her. _

"_Where is Neptune?" Uranus' deep shout ricocheted off the throne room walls, causing Queen Serenity and the inner senshi to recoil in surprise._

_Worry and frustration rolled off Uranus in visible gusts of wind and the inner senshi convened on the unstable force, forming a living barrier between the senshi of the wind and their Queen. The Uranian stood tall as she stared down Venus, unappreciative of their protective measures. _

_Serenity turned from her console, her knowledgeable blue eyes relaying a sense of calm. "She's injured, but she'll be alright, Uranus." The brash outer senshi sighed audibly. "She's just returned to the medical bay with Sailor Pluto."_

_Uranus bowed her head slightly in thanks before storming from the room, the inner senshi almost thrown from their feet from the winds of anxiety she generated._

* * *

_The blonde scowled, being met with the opposition of Sailor Pluto at the door to Neptune's medical room. Uranus stood toe to toe with Pluto, obviously unhappy that the garnet eyed woman had an inch advantage on her._

"_You would do best to calm down before approaching her, Uranus." Pluto said calmly. The Uranian before her was just as close a friend, family even, as Neptune was to her, but it simply wouldn't do to have her injured ally worked up by her nervous lover._

_Uranus deflated slightly, considering her error and not wanting to add to Neptune's discomfort. She took a moment to stall herself and learn what had happened before barging forward as she wanted. "Tell me what happened." She barked at her ally, realizing her speech had yet to catch up to her intentions. _

_Pluto cocked an eyebrow. At least Uranus was trying. "As you know, Neptune and I were on a peace treaty to Earth to give them one last chance to join the unified planets of the Moon Kingdom. Their initial desire to join us had waned in previous years, though we know not why." _

_She paused suddenly, hearing a growl from Uranus once she had uttered the name of the blue planet. "See? This is why you were left out of the loop and made to wait on the Moon. Control your temper, Uranus." The Guardian of Time scolded. _

_Uranus' jaw clicked shut audibly. Setsuna and Michiru were the only two who could put in her place, after all. _

"_The Earthlings had set a trap." Pluto finally continued._

_Uranus bared her teeth in a primal gesture. "A trap!" She exclaimed. "Damnit, Pluto, you and Neptune both knew there was unease from that damned Planet! I told you two not to go and look what happened!"_

"_Uranus…?"_

_The blonde's body went rigid as her ears picked up the quiet, weak voice of her partner from the room Pluto protected._

_Unable to meet the senshi of the wind's eyes, the Guardian of Time stepped away from the door, allowing her friend to pass. Uranus didn't hesitate. Wasting no time, she entered the room brashly. _

_The small space was dimly lit but Uranus was relieved to find Neptune less injured than she had feared. Scratches and bruises peppered her exposed skin, but thanks to her senshi powers, she seemed otherwise uninjured. Nonetheless, it was little consolation to the worried Uranus as she slid next to Neptune's bedside, where her partner gazed up at her with tired, cobalt eyes, her breathing shallow and slow._

_The senshi of the wind's anger and frustration suddenly drained once seeing the state of her partner. Slowly, Uranus' hand reached out and touched Neptune's cheek gently, as though the aqua haired woman were made of porcelain. As Neptune looked up at her worriedly, Uranus shut her eyes. Not trusting herself to say the right words, the sandy haired woman merely leant down to enclose her lover in a gentle embrace._

"_I'm sorry I worried you, Uranus." Neptune said quietly. Her hoarse voice in the quiet room caused Uranus to tighten her hold around her as though someone threatened to take her away. "Apparently, Queen Beryl and the Shitennou aren't interested in being a part of the Moon Kingdom anymore. We had barely set foot on Terran soil when a concussion grenade was thrown from the crowds. The initial blast had rendered me unconscious. I learned afterwards that it was Endymion who helped Pluto and I escape, though I don't think the Queen and his generals know he did so. At least now we know more of the unease from Earth."_

_Uranus only buried her head further into Neptune's wavy hair, the halting explanation of what had occurred on Earth seemingly meaningless. _

_The cobalt eyed woman stroked her partner's arm, nut her brows met with worry as she felt the strong muscles of Uranus' shoulders tremble. The Neptunian assumed her partner was angry. "Don't be mad at Pluto, it wasn't her fault. She couldn't have foreseen this any more than I could have pinpointed my sense of unease. The future is changing, Uranus." _

_The silence stretched on, Uranus still loosely embracing her lover as though she had barely registered Neptune's words, while Neptune merely continued to try to soothe Uranus' strange unease. _

"_Ara, Uranus, are you okay?" Neptune finally asked. She tried to look at her lover to gauge her expression, but Uranus continued to hide her face behind her long, unruly bangs. _

_The senshi of the ocean was sure that her lover wouldn't reply when her familiar husky voice finally broke the mounting silence between them._

"_I had this feeling that… I thought… I thought I'd lost you." Uranus' voice was quiet and broken, and she trembled uncontrollably in Neptune's arms. The reality of their duty to the throne had never been as clear as it was at that moment, and the implication shook Uranus to her core. She tried to drown a sniffle and a choked cry into the pillow that supported her partner._

_A small, understanding smile tugged at Neptune's lips as she soothed her lover with renewed fervor. "Shhh." She repeated over and over again like a mantra as she ran her hands along Uranus' arms and allowed the blonde woman to freely cry on her shoulder. Never had the strong, flippant woman been reduced to tears, and Neptune couldn't help but cry along with her, the shock of the attack on Earth and the impact of receiving her lover's raw emotions suddenly hitting home._

_Finally, the aqua haired woman gently took Uranus' face in her hands and forced her to look at her. She scowled at the guilt she found in the tall woman's features. She'd have to address that later, and she knew just how to do so, but first was the task of reassuring her partner. _

_Running her fingers through Uranus' long, thick bangs, Neptune smiled confidently at her partner, gaining the smallest of smiles in return from her lover. Neptune's voice was a whisper when it left her lips. _

"_I won't leave you, Haruka. I promise." _

_/flashback _

The soft sound of the familiar woman's voice lingered in Haruka's ears. This woman had been a part of her life… her past life. As Haruka's hazel eyes turned back to the sparkling ocean, noticing the wind sweeping the waves to the shore, she realized that there was no longer any denying the fact.

Though the mere thought would have terrified her only days before as had the visions of the silence and the first memories of the strangely familiar woman she'd experienced, a small smile now pulled at Haruka's lips. Blissfully, she allowed the recent emotions of reassurance, caring and an overwhelming sense of love, to envelop her warmly.

She could no longer ignore her past. Her _past_ life. There was no doubt of the depth of love she had felt in return for the aqua haired woman.

But there was also fear. Fear of losing this woman. This Neptune. This Michiru. The aqua haired woman's words echoed in her head.

'_I won't leave you, Haruka. I promise.'_

The blonde haired woman suddenly frowned, the warm emotions she had previously basked in suddenly draining from her as her features slipped into unease.

"But you did leave me, didn't you?" Haruka's quiet whisper was stolen by the wind that once again howled in her ears as she turned from her destiny. Her expression hardened and her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

In her past life, Haruka had been Neptune's partner and Michiru's lover. _'Then, if history were to repeat itself, what does that mean for my future?'_ Haruka asked herself suspiciously.

A phantom chill sent a shiver down Haruka's spine, despite the warm spring day. "The silence." She spat, remembering an unspecified duty and an expectation that could not be met. Goosebumps rose on her bare arms as a sudden, intense wave of loneliness crashed down on her like a breaking wave.

Haruka pushed the image of Neptune from her mind, once again hardening her resolve. She would not allow duty or even destiny to ruin her life once again.

Realizing she was ascending into the mountains again, Haruka cursed under her breath when she realized how off course she had become. She had wandered far too long and was now threateningly late for a track meet. Her eyes narrowed and a smile pulled at her lips. A quick heel-toe motion across the brake and gas pedal caused her car to lurch and she whipped the lithe vehicle into a quick u-turn, flooring it on the road back to Tokyo.

* * *

Michiru stood on the sidelines, quiet in the buzz of the spectators before the track race. Introverted and anxious, she retreated into herself and even for all of her intense beauty, she became lost in the crowd of people. Today was the day, and she hoped she had planned it well. Setsuna had given her her approval and her own sixth sense had urged her. It was time to approach Haruka. There was no turning back. 

All eyes turned as the last racer approached the track. A hushed awe settled over the masculine form of a blonde haired woman. Tenoh Haruka had arrived.

Michiru caught Elza's eye. The red haired girl stood confidently next to Haruka on the starting blocks. Elza winked and gave the aqua haired woman on the sidelines a thumbs up, a toothy grin on her tanned face. Michiru's plan had been set into motion. Such an elementary approach to such a monumental meeting of powers. Of lovers.

Michiru swallowed a lump in her throat as she glanced back to Haruka. She couldn't help but notice that the handsome woman's eyes looked frightened.

It was then that a pain, deep inside Michiru's chest made itself known and her hand reached up to her heart distractedly. Her cobalt eyes never wavering from the object of her affection, she asked herself if it was even possible to feel such depth of emotion for another, even though they had yet to meet… did she really love the Haruka of the present?

'_I loved Haruka in my past life, but could I also love this cold shell of a woman she's become?'_ She asked herself, looking deeper into her would be partner's troubled hazel eyes.

"Yes." The din of the crowd stole her whispered affirmation.

'_Because the Haruka I know, the Self she's hiding, is there. And if only I have the strength to help her, perhaps we can build a new love in this age. Together.'_

* * *

_vision _

_She looked back in horror as the building next to her crumbled and imploded into itself, only to get carried away by the gale force winds to the gaping vortex behind her. The heat suffocated her, closing her lungs as her world crumbled around her feet. Although Neptune's silhouette shone brightly in the distance, she was powerless to stop the approach of the silence._

_/vision _

Haruka gasped and ground her teeth angrily as she forced away the images of the silence that had entered her mind unbidden. Forcing her destiny and would be partner away, she crouched into starting position, yet the warmth of the track heated by the mid-day sun was insufficient to ease her worries.

The gunshot exploded to her right. She took off with an uncalculated velocity as though with speed alone she could push her worries and fears from her mind. The finish line loomed ahead of her, her only goal in her mundane life. Her eyes unseeing, her ears unhearing, her mind unthinking, Haruka's legs and arms pounded opposite each other in hopes of escaping the mortal world.

All too quickly, the tape broke across her chest and the roar of the crowd filled her ears. She was forced to return to reality. Winning the race had been a breeze, despite the wind that had threatened to hold her back. Some things, even her element couldn't decide for her.

Haruka numbly acknowledged the congratulations, heard her name from the stands and felt her familiar cocky grin on her face. At least her mask was as reliable as her speed with which she ran from herself. She laced seemingly flippant fingers through long golden bangs.

"Tenoh Haruka!"

The tall blonde spun to the sound of her name, the voice that had called her slightly familiar. Haruka recognized Elza immediately. The red haired girl looked unfazed by her defeat, as though she carried an ulterior motive. Haruka's unquestioning gaze didn't deter her cheerful competitor from speaking her mind.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet." She began, not noticing Haruka roll her hazel eyes, assuming she'd be introduced to another enamored fan drawn to her by the allure of her popularity. "Michiru, come on!" Elza finally shouted.

Although her confident expression managed to remain non pulsed, Haruka swallowed audibly, her breath catching in her throat, her heart beating wildly in her chest. The howling wind that had filled her ears for weeks suddenly ceased. A blessed silence heralded by a petite girl with an astounding beauty, she moved fluidly through the crowds with inherent grace and quiet sophistication. The girl's shoulder length aqua hair and piercing cobalt eyes were a beacon that Haruka couldn't ignore. In any lifetime.

'_It's her, isn't it? She's found me.'_ Haruka found herself wondering and suddenly, the image of the silence, always a part of her mind, no longer contained nightmarish images of a future that could not be averted. Instead, the future Tokyo shined brightly, as if protected by two strong individuals. By Neptune, and herself as Uranus.

Suddenly Haruka struggled with an uncontrollable and inexplicable desire to pull the aqua haired girl into her arms and she barely noticed that Elza continued to speak. Her hazel eyes made contact with the other girl's cobalt ones and the blonde realized that their depths resembled the bottomless ocean and that in them, Haruka felt small and insignificant. She was not good enough for this woman. The image of beauty suddenly reminded her of a tragedy long forgotten as her wonder and appreciation of the woman before her spiraled into confusion and mistrust.

"This is Michiru Kaioh. She's extremely intelligent and a brilliant painter. She wants to meet you." Elza said lightly, the intense chemistry between the two girls not going unnoticed.

'_Michiru? But that was the name of-'_ Haruka thought to herself, only to be interrupted by the aqua haired girl.

"You didn't break a sweat." Michiru stated, her very voice music to the other woman's ears. "I think you were holding back, weren't you?"

Haruka swallowed, maintaining her perfect mask as she struggled for an answer, not wanting her own voice to ruin the music that Michiru's made. It was a familiar voice, one that reminded her of warmth and closeness, of a past lover, even. Haruka connected their names, her brow furrowing at the coincidence that her dream lover of a past life could share the same name as this new girl who currently sought her out. But this Michiru was shy and slightly nervous, making Haruka feel awkward, as though conversation should have come naturally between them, passionately even. But was the strange disconnect she felt the fault of the girl opposite her, or was it her own?

The sweat that Haruka hadn't felt on the track now beaded on her forehead, suddenly unsure of herself. She owed this girl a reply. "What do you mean?" Her reply was flippant, avoiding.

Michiru's eyes narrowed suspiciously, her tone lowering with cryptic suggestion. "You can hear the wind rustling, can't you?"

That voice, full of seriousness, carried a dangerous edge to it that Haruka immediately recognized. It was that of Neptune. The winds once again roared in Haruka's ears and the blonde woman imagined the smell of soot and broken concrete, the heat of the silence surrounding her was suffocating. An image then came unbidden into her head and Haruka imagined the smell of burnt flesh and an army of mindless soldiers and a mythical monster that led the destruction of a foreign place…

Haruka banished such thoughts, their intensity threatening to overwhelm her. Instead, she focused on the woman in front of her. This Neptune in disguise threatened to take her, to steal her from a destiny of motor sports, to thrust her into a downward spiral of pain and loneliness as she had in her last life.

There was no doubt left in Haruka's mind, just as she had been in her previous existence, this Michiru was also Neptune. A shiver raced down her back as she struggled to maintain her impenetrable cocky smirk.

Haruka snorted, pretending she didn't understand her would-be partner's secret message. "You're strange. What do you want of me?" She recoiled at the harshness of her tone, dismayed that the serene girl in front of her did the same as well, though the challenging glint in her cobalt eyes seemed to say that she expected to be met with resistance.

Michiru's fingers clutched her sketchpad tightly. "Would you be a model for my painting?" Her words were unhalting as she used her haughty expression to hide worry and anxiety. Her high hopes for their meeting were beginning to slip through her fingers as Haruka continuously brushed her off with every word she seemingly confidently uttered.

"Pass." Haruka said lightly, almost surprised by her ability to reject her while standing so close to she who tempted her so greatly. The wind, nonexistent to those around her, battered her form mercilessly as she turned her back to destiny. Once again, she ignored her element's message. "I don't like that kind of thing."

Ignoring the pain of the warring emotions that threatened to consume her, Haruka closed her eyes as she turned, unable to meet Michiru's hurt gaze. Walking away with wide, boyish strides, she wanted to run. For she knew that if she had turned to look into those disappointed cobalt eyes to find the pain that she had caused, she would have crumbled and run back to she who wanted her help, she who needed her by her side. She who would also cause her pain…

No. Haruka would not join this would be partner, would not chose the pain and anguish associated with Neptune's image, even if that were to mean shunning the love she sensed Michiru felt for her. Perhaps the love she might have felt for that woman in return, if only she could remember…

'_Remember what?'_ Haruka spat to herself. Pushing away thoughts, memories that threatened to surface, finally, her resolve hardened.

In this life, it was not her destiny to play that role. She would not cast aside her comfortable melancholic apathy, would not entertain the idea of experiencing anything other than what she had known. She was incapable of being what Neptune or even Michiru needed, and she knew, were she to try, even though the specifics were hidden from her, she felt that destiny would deal whatever same terrible blow as it had in her last, futile existence.

* * *

For all her outward composure, Michiru's heartbeat raced wildly, her blood pumped fiercely, her fingers were shaking. The pain of rejection stung desperately. As she watched her would be partner casually retreat, she felt the urge to run to her, throw her arms around her strong shoulders, beg her to return, to rethink, to _remember_. 

Michiru's cobalt eyes narrowed. Haruka _had_ known who she was. She had sensed it, had sensed the blonde's initial reaction of surprise and longing once she had first laid eyes on her. For just a split second, Michiru felt _Haruka_. Not the cold and bitter woman who wore the face of her lover of the past, but the woman she had first fallen in love with, the woman buried underneath that harsh exterior.

Only, Haruka's startled hopefulness at her familiarity had quickly disintegrated as soon as she had mentioned the winds, as soon as she had mentioned duty, and Michiru had realized that Haruka was afraid of her destiny and of her duty.

The aqua haired woman frowned. She didn't believe that her reluctant lover of ages past understood the difference between the two. She led herself to the conclusion that, when Uranus' mind had turned on her eight hundred years ago, the woman's disintegrating mind began to associate both duty and destiny with fear and loathing. She must have felt that duty had brought forth the destructive forces of that which had destroyed the Moon Kingdom, that which had threatened all she held dear, and that destiny was what had made living on without her partner so difficult. The blonde had immediately shied away then, hiding her initial reaction to Michiru behind strongly fortified barriers constructed so long ago.

She had scared her away.

A soft hand on Michiru's shoulder startled her. "Don't let her get to you." Elza said with a conspirator's smile. "I haven't even been able to have that much of a conversation with her yet. From what I hear, she's pretty cocky like that."

A small smile touched Michiru's lips. "At least _some_ things haven't changed." She whispered.

A seed of hope blossomed in the petite girl's chest, slowly expelling the disappointment and hurt that lingered there. Fueled by her powerful intuition, Michiru believed that Haruka wanted her help, _needed_ her help to once again become the woman she had been before the fall of the Silver Millennium. After all, it was true that Haruka's confident cockiness was a direct parallel to her persona of their past lives, and after even just for the shortest moment that Michiru had felt the true persona of Haruka, there was no doubt that the rest of her frightened lover's persona was there too, hidden behind layers of barriers that Haruka herself had erected.

All she had to do was figure out how to break them down and free Haruka from her confines, and then, help her to understand that destiny and duty were not what she thought them to be.

"_So, if she approached me in this life, then that means that Haruka's real personality is still there, locked away at the bottom of her soul, right?"_ Michiru's own hopeful words from only days earlier echoed in her head, and now she had additional evidence to prove her theory.

"I'm sorry, Michiru, did you say something?" Elza asked, looking at her friend with furrowed brows.

Michiru looked up, realizing she had spoken aloud. "Oh, no, nothing. Come, Elza, I owe you lunch." A bright, honest smile on her face, Michiru led her companion in the opposite direction that her would be partner had retreated.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Special thanks, as always to my beta and KS, YoukaiMusashi.

Thanks also to all my wonderful reviewers. Please keep letting me know what you think!

I know the flashbacks in this chapter, and the ones that will come afterwards don't adhere to the chronological timeline I've established (considering that you've all already learned how the Silver Millennium ended). However, like in some of the other flashbacks in earlier chapters, I've decided to place them outside the chronological Silver Millennium timeline for the impact to their corresponding characters in the future. I hope it's not too confusing.

* * *

Preview, Chapter 9: 

The quiet murmurings of the crowd breathed a collective gasp as the sound of a brilliant violin caught their attention. The spotlights turned to the stage where they illuminated an elegant, young, aqua haired woman. Resplendent in her ivory gown, her graceful fingers coaxed gentle music from her violin.

It was music that Haruka didn't hear as her breath stuck in her throat. Caught between intensely warring emotions, the urge to run both to and from the cobalt eyed woman ravaged her. Fate had determined that they meet again. Fate had given her another chance to accept this woman who needed her so desperately.

Fate was meddling in affairs that Haruka wanted no part of.

The graceful woman stood on the stage as though she were the only person on the yacht. Her confident presence commanded respect and her calculated motions spoke with maturity. Though she didn't make eye contact with her captive audience, Haruka understood that her would-be partner knew that she was amongst the crowd. She would come for her. Soon.


	10. 9: History Repeats Itself

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 9: History Repeats Itself  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

Michiru floated on her back, the water lapping gently at her chin and face, the swell of her breasts, her kneecaps. Always in tune to her element, though her eyes were shut, she could sense the emptiness of her surroundings of the indoor pool. The slightest motion of the backstroke propelled her backwards, yet even as her limbs deftly slid in and out of the water, not a ripple was left on the liquid's smooth surface. She could have been a part of the element that surrounded her, a molecule of the calm waters she was composed of.

Calm… were it not for the tumultuous emotions that raged within her mind, the intensity of which threatened to trigger a destructive tsunami across the collected composure that Michiru displayed.

It had been a week since she had first met Haruka at her school's track race, a week since her would be partner had rejected her. In those seven days, her high hopes of finding the tall blonde had faded to the stress of school, violin rehearsals, and a couple of youma battles, their frequency and intensity seemingly increasing.

Her hopes of again finding her cold and stoic shell of a lover from ages past had been relegated to the confines of the deepest reaches of her mind. Meanwhile, the forefront of her mind was laden with images of the impending silence which continued to ravage her dreams, sapping her much needed strength, stealing her breath as freezing tidal waves of ice cold water threatened to destroy the future…

The muted sound of Michiru's cell phone filtered through the water to reach her ears. Her initial thought was to ignore the call and remain in her blessed solitude, but her intuition gripped her strongly. She knew the call would be important. With fluid speed and agility, Michiru's lithe body slid through the water, and with the grace of a sea nymph, she launched herself from her element to sit elegantly on the pool deck.

Noting the call was from was her manager her hopeful expression fell. "This is Michiru." She said shortly. Apparently her intuition had been strangely wrong. The last thing she wanted was to be hounded about performing a concert in her busy and exhausted state.

As her excitable manager launched into a furious proposal, she quickly cut him to the chase. "Pass." She said, preempting him. She raised an eyebrow, having realized that in this life, she had adopted Haruka's mannerisms as quickly as she had in her past one.

"But Michiru-san, this is the third concert you've refused this week! You simply must think of your career, your fans are waiting for you!" The limp-willed man on the other end of the line almost begged.

'_Career.'_ Michiru thought with a snort. Unlike Haruka, she had put her future on hold to embrace her past. The cobalt eyed girl sighed as she pushed wet strands of hair to the other side of her neck. She couldn't deny that she missed performing her music in front of a crowd…

Her manager capitalized on his protégé's wavering resolve. "You simply must attend this gig, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. A formal midnight cruise to benefit some local charity or the other. But there'll be five star food, and from what I understand, a _lot_ of celebrities."

Michiru rolled her eyes, as if she were _that_ kind of girl. After three years with her manager, she had expected more from him. She prepared to interrupt and refuse his offer as he rattled off celebrity names in a blur.

"Listen," Michiru cut in, but then stopped short as she heard a familiar name. "Wait, who did you just say?" She asked with sharp curiosity.

Her manager jumped, excitement in his voice. "I should have known you'd be interested in him! Tenoh Haruka, he and his sponsors will be there to promote-"

"I'll go. I'll expect to see my limo at six, sharp." Michiru said curtly, and without another word, she ended the call abruptly. She set her cell back on the pool's edge before slipping back into the water's welcoming embrace. She dove deeper to escape the grating ring of her phone, no doubt her manager was attempting to call her back to discuss specifics she couldn't care less about.

Finally sure of no further interruptions, Michiru again surfaced after trusting her lungs to the water for what might have seemed far too long for a mere human. Retreating to a motionless float on her back, her cobalt eyes stared unseeing at the monotonous ceiling above her.

'_Tonight our paths will cross again.'_

Michiru found herself digging deep within her heart to find the hopes she had relied on after her first meeting with Haruka. Her hopes that, if she could somehow help Haruka to understand that destiny and duty were not the same, and that neither would bring her hardship, that the troubled woman would let down her heavily fortified defenses that the devastated Uranus had built around herself eight hundred years ago, where she was sure, her original, carefree personality still existed. Her mind began to wander as she wondered how she would approach the flighty woman this time, how she could try to convince her that she wasn't someone to be scared of.

As she floated aimlessly, Michiru realized that she needed to understand how Haruka dealt with stress if she were to succeed in winning her over. She had certainly already found how _not_ to interact with the bitter, avoidant woman.

Michiru had many memories of her interactions with the carefree Haruka of ages past, but how should she approach her if she were bitter and closed? She wondered if she and Haruka had ever had a misunderstanding, or even an argument during their past lives. Certainly they must have, but how would she have dealt with a fearful, retreating Haruka?

Somehow, Michiru felt she had dealt with it poorly…

_flashback _

_Pluto wore a mischievous smile on her lips as she led her fellow outer senshi through the inner chambers of the Moon Palace._

"_I don't see what you think is so funny, Pluto." Uranus grumbled. "You have to baby-sit with us too."_

"_Ara?" Neptune exclaimed jokingly, raising her eyebrows at her partner as she recalled how she had found Haruka flirting with Princess Serenity the very first time she had met the hazel eyed woman. "Last I remember, you found yourself quite enamored with our young Princess."_

_Uranus snorted in defiance, allowing the heels of her heavy boots to fill the silence. The tension between Neptune and herself had been at a stagnant breaking point for weeks. Their ritualistic flirting had reached a point of no return and had almost become their only form of communication. Uranus didn't know what had caused the change, she only knew that something had to be done about it, and soon._

_Neptune eyed her brooding partner warily, feeding off her irritated emotions while still trying to focus on the task at hand. For as much as her own thoughts of her partner and their precariously undefined relationship consumed her, currently they held a duty to the Princess of the Moon. _

_It had been months since they had last seen the inner senshi or even the Moon Princess. The training regime of the outers had kept them fairly isolated from their younger counterparts, and although each group of senshi held some amount of respect for the other, there was not enough time for friendship, let alone any information sharing. The inners didn't even know of the recent birth of Saturn's would be senshi, that the child proclaimed to destroy their solar system had been living among them for months. The senshi of the ocean suspected that the inners were weary of leaving the Princess in the protection of the outers, even if only for one day's time while they traveled abroad for training of their own. _

_Pluto stopped abruptly, her two brooding allies behind her almost falling on top of each other in a mess of limbs as she knocked on the door purposefully. The sound of excited footsteps rushed forward and the door quickly swung open, followed by the musical voice of the Moon Princess. "Pluto! Neptune! Uranus! It'll be so fun to spend the day together!"_

_The three outer senshi bowed politely to Serenity II, feeling somewhat awkward in the exuberant girl's unbridled enthusiasm, her openness and purity somewhat alien to their more repressed nature. _

_Pluto placed encouraging hands on the shoulders of her friends, pushing them forward into the young Serenity's chambers. "My regrets, my Princess, but I have a duty to the Time Gate which I must attend to first. Will you accept my deepest apologies?"_

_Serenity didn't notice the cold stares of surprise that Uranus and Neptune gave to the green haired woman as her own challenging smile met Pluto's questioning gaze. "Only if you stop addressing me so formally." She stated bravely._

_The guardian of the Time Gate smiled genuinely. "You're just like your mother, Serenity-chan." The young blonde beamed with pride at Pluto's compliment. "I'll return just as soon as I can." _

_The garnet eyed woman addressed the Queen's daughter kindly before turning back to her two allies. "Who knows, you two may learn something important today." She said enigmatically._

_Pluto smirked knowingly at the obviously stressed and suddenly seemingly deserted pair of Neptune and Uranus as she turned to retreat. Although they would be painful lessons, they'd each learn something important that day and though they were unaware of such a fact, it was not Pluto's role to interfere._

* * *

_Uranus cursed as she banged her knees on the bottom of the low table. She had long ago given up trying to drink the tea from the delicate cup, the giggles she received from Serenity and Neptune for her poor etiquette had been a deterrent enough._

"_Fuckingteaparty." She grumbled. Who had ever heard of a senshi at high tea, anyway? She glared at the decorative finger sandwiches in disdain._

"_Uranus, did you say something?" Cobalt eyes met stormy gray ones and Neptune could barely contain her laughter. The afternoon tea party with the Princess and the tomboy had been priceless. Pluto was missing out on a great show._

_The senshi of the wind glared at her partner, attempting anger, but knowing she was incapable of feeling that emotion for the other woman. She settled with looking away, only to be met with her Princess' large, shining blue eyes._

_Uranus' heart skipped a beat. She slipped into familiar territory and allowed her mouth to do the talking for her. Her eyes softened and her voice lowered, she barely realized she was flirting so shamelessly as she laid on the charm. Her golden bangs framed her face handsomely as she lowered her elbow to the table and propped her chin in her hands, her eyes taking in only her Princess. "Now, Serenity, wouldn't you say that Neptune here is being rather harsh? _You_ wouldn't treat me so terribly, would you?" _

_Neptune's insides twisted, her cobalt eyes narrowing as she watched her partner fawn over Serenity, her head in her hand, her eyes distant, her expression relaxed completely. Uranus was caught in the young Moon heir's beauty. _'This is all wrong. She's only supposed to look like that when she's talking to me.'_ The senshi of the ocean had seen Haruka flirt with others before, it was almost an every day occurrence, but the intensity in her partner's hazel eyes at that moment suddenly frightened Neptune. _

'Only me.'_ She repeated to herself. _

_Not sensing Neptune's inner turmoil, the young Princess giggled, inherently understanding that her older friend was merely teasing her and Uranus found a smile spreading across her own face. The Uranian had always been attracted to her Princess, it was hard not to be, the young woman simply radiated beauty. But staring into her azure depths, Uranus quickly found that her attraction to Serenity was neither physical nor mental, nor was it a romantic attraction at all. _

_Finally, the realization slammed into her. It was a kinship she felt for the young woman._

_In Serenity, the senshi of the wind saw her own object of affection. She saw Michiru. She saw Neptune. In Serenity, Uranus saw gentle beauty, tender naivety, and a definite, albeit, hidden grace that just waited for the blue eyed blonde to mature. And Uranus realized that she wanted nothing more than to protect her Princess' innocence that reminded her so much of her own partner._

_The revelation gripped the edgy woman and her mind responded to her heart. After the three years she'd spent with her partner, all the flirting, the near misses, the depth of emotion she felt for the other woman, she had finally pinpointed _why_ she loved her partner so deeply. Though her own soul had already known, her mind now buzzed with the striking knowledge._

_The senshi of the wind realized all too late the obvious blush that had crawled up her cheeks and that, though she was thinking of Neptune, she was staring at Serenity._

"_Uranus, are you okay?" The long haired blonde asked with endless concern. "You're all red, are you feeling hot?"_

"_Hot?" Neptune proposed, making an effort to keep the sharp edge from her voice._

_The senshi of the ocean hid her irritation that grew as her partner refused to meet her gaze. She knew all too well that her relationship with Uranus was undefined, a friendship that bordered on something more. But Uranus had no real obligation to her. She was free to do what she wanted, no matter how much the Neptunian's heart might object. _

_She painted a broad smile on her face and managed to wear it well. "She's fine, Serenity-chan, don't mind the staring idiot."_

_Uranus winced. Her partner's voice was light and teasing, but she could detect a trace of annoyance that she had caused. She finally met Neptune's icy cobalt eyes, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. She didn't need her partner's uncanny sense of intuition to detect jealousy. _

'Why jealousy? We're only partners, nothing more.'_ Uranus told herself. Despite the constant innuendo between them, their flirting was only a game they played, right? Surely Neptune wouldn't consider otherwise. For all their closeness, the aqua haired woman had never suggested wanting anything more than friendship._

'But neither have I.'_ Uranus realized. _

_Serenity giggled, oblivious to the growing tension between the two outer senshi. "Don't say that, Neptune! After all, Uranus and yourself are just like Endymion and I, aren't you?" _

_A painful silence froze the room, though the Princess of the Moon didn't notice the numbing cold. Neptune and Uranus found they couldn't meet each other's gaze, both at an absolute loss for words. How could their Princess suggest that the feelings they shared for each other were as strong as the well known love of Endymion and Serenity?_

_Young Serenity gasped, startled as she noticed the time. "I'm late for my lessons!"_

_In a gangly mess of limbs, the forgetful long haired girl leapt from her chair, spilling her tea in the process as she apologized profusely. She threw hurried arms around her friends' shoulders, a quick hug of thanks accompanied with a genuine smile. _

"_Will I see you after my lessons?" She asked hopefully._

_The outer senshi managed tentative nods to reassure her and the not so graceful blonde ran off to her tutoring, leaving the pair in an awkward silence in her wake. _

"_That silly girl." Neptune said tersely, making an attempt to ease the mounting tension, though she noticed her voice had grown sharp. She began to wonder why Uranus still hadn't stood up for herself, it was unlike her bold friend to remain silent after such an accusation._

_The tall blonde swallowed audibly, feeling Neptune's eyes on her. Her partner was upset and she was the cause. Uranus only hoped that the Neptunian was upset with her shameless flirting over their Princess and not Serenity's implication that the two of them shared a romantic relationship. _

"_I'm sorry." Uranus blurted out uncharacteristically, once again submerging the atmosphere into awkwardness._

"_For what?" Neptune asked rhetorically, though her voice was laced with accusation._

_Uranus frowned, knowing that even though she was trying to make amends, her partner was becoming confrontational. "For flirting with her!"_

"_Ara!" Neptune blinked, finding herself at a loss. She had expected her partner to stand up for herself, not _apologize_. It was unlike Uranus to feel the need to prove herself to anyone, even to her. "It's in your nature to be an egotistical flirt, is it not?"_

_Uranus opened her mouth, wanting to prove Neptune wrong, needing to tell her how she felt, needing to ease the terrible misunderstanding she had caused. She was on the verge of revealing her true feelings. _

"_It's not like that, I just want to… protect her for some reason." Uranus ground out._

_Something inside Neptune snapped. Her calm, patient nature yielded to her sudden frustration, the jealousy she felt overcoming her far too easily. "Why should I care how you feel about her?" _

_Neptune gasped, surprised at the venom in her voice. She hadn't meant to come across so harsh, yet she suddenly found she couldn't stop herself. Years spent containing her emotions for her partner culminating, her mouth continued, her brain struggling to catch up. "You'd bed any woman you'd come across, even the Princess! Right? Every woman except for me!"_

_Both women froze in the wake of the strong words Neptune had flung. A blush tinted the cheeks of the aqua haired woman, but was overpowered by the one that dominated Uranus' own. The senshi of the wind's mind reeled. Did she detect regret from her partner? More jealousy? Was the prim and proper Neptune upset that she'd made no effort to get into her bed? _'Ridiculous! Neptune would never…'

_Icy cobalt eyes bore down on her and Uranus knew she needed to supply an answer. She longed to pull the smaller girl into her arms, tell her that the only woman she wanted to bed was none other than herself, but how would she react, was that really what she wanted to hear? _

'_Maybe it is. Maybe the past three years of flirting and teasing really wasn't a joke...' But could she lay it all on the line? _

_Uranus' fists clenched tightly. "It's not about Serenity, Neptune, it's about-"_

_Neptune was unhearing as she interrupted her partner, the two of them speaking at the same time. "Don't think _I'm_ stopping you, Uranus. Last time I checked, there was nothing more than _friendship_ between you and I. Or am I wrong?" _

_Uranus' mouth clicked shut, Neptune's cobalt eyes boring into her, tantalizing her, begging her to prove her statement wrong as she desperately wanted to do… yet in the confrontational atmosphere, the tension so great, Uranus crumbled under the pressure, her desire to open up to her partner while being pushed so hard deflated. Was Neptune fishing for an honest answer or was she pushing her away? _

"_Forget it!" Uranus spat, all thoughts of explaining to her partner how she felt scattering to the winds she longed to run into. "Just forget any of this ever happened." _

_The senshi of the wind's clouded eyes dared Neptune to think otherwise. The conversation was over. Done. Never to be brought up again. Unable to read her stormy partner's intentions, Uranus turned and walked away, slamming the heavy door shut behind her, picking up her post outside of Serenity's chambers. _

_Neptune stood on shaky legs, cursing herself for driving her partner away in her own frustration, realizing her mistake of pushing her tentative partner far too late, finally understanding that she had interrupted something terribly important._

'What have I done?'

_/flashback _

Michiru was drowning.

Literally, her body was completely submerged, her element as upset as she was. Finally snapping back to reality, she broke the water's surface and lent her arms on the pool's edge for support. She had learned that, in her past, she had ruined what she was sure would have been Uranus' confession of her feelings for her. She had ruined it as a result of her jealous and impatient urges. Even knowing that her partner was apt to run from confrontation and that she did not like being placed on the spot, she had tried to force an answer from her, an answer that may have been what they had both been looking for, had she not crossed signals with her partner.

She almost laughed at the irony as she pushed her wet bangs from her eyes. Very vaguely, Michiru could remember having gotten all worked up that day for nothing, for shortly after, they had confessed their love for one another. Not long after that very fight, Haruka had cleared up her feelings for Serenity, and once having learned that Haruka had only compared Serenity's beauty to her own and that her Princess had only served as a catalyst to Haruka's understanding of her love for Michiru, the aqua haired girl had felt rather foolish.

She still did, eight hundred years later.

Michiru pulled herself from the pool, droplets of water sliding from her skin. Now she was equipped with the knowledge of that which would drive Haruka away from her. After reliving that old memory, she knew how to better deal with a flighty Haruka. If she could keep herself from coming on too strongly or backing Haruka into a corner, Haruka was less likely to run from her.

If only she could reign in her own emotions.

'_Pluto had been right.'_ Michiru realized with a smile. She _had_ learned something important that day. If only she hadn't realized it eight hundred years after the fact!

And so the question remained to be asked, could she learn from the mistakes of her past, or would history repeat itself once again?

* * *

Haruka's tuxedo collar itched as she sat stiffly at a table on the deck of the yacht, nursing some alcoholic concoction, which was nothing if not orange. Sometimes her famous persona came in handy. Had they known she was underage, let alone female, she wouldn't have had half of what she had accomplished in her young life.

'_Not that it amounts to anything in the end.'_ Her negativity reminded her.

The quiet murmurings of the crowd breathed a collective gasp as the sound of a brilliant violin caught their attention. The spotlights turned to the stage where they illuminated an elegant, young, aqua haired woman. Resplendent in her ivory gown, her graceful fingers coaxed gentle music from her violin.

It was music that Haruka didn't hear as her breath stuck in her throat. Caught between intensely warring emotions, the urge to run both to and from the cobalt eyed woman ravaged her. Fate had determined that they meet again. Fate had given her another chance to accept this woman who needed her so desperately.

Fate was meddling in affairs that Haruka wanted no part of.

The graceful woman stood on the stage as though she were the only person on the yacht. Her confident presence commanded respect and her calculated motions spoke with maturity. Though she didn't make eye contact with her captive audience, Haruka understood that her would-be partner knew that she was amongst the crowd. She would come for her. Soon.

"That girl is Kaioh Michiru."

"She doesn't seem like a junior high girl. She must be very popular at school."

Haruka detected a conversation behind her and stirred her drink restlessly as she tried to ignore their rudeness. She eyed a lonely piano on the stage and felt drawn to it. The blonde's brow frowned. She hadn't touched the keys of a piano in years… was it the piano which called to her, or Michiru's infuriatingly beautiful music which spoke to her soul?

_flashback _

_Her wake up call came in the form of slow, melancholic notes persuasively seduced from a violin. Haruka sighed softly and turned over groggily, still in the space between dreams and wakefulness. Grabbing at the comforter next to her, she was met with emptiness where she had expected to find her lover._

"_Michiru." She whispered. Sitting upright, she fought the pull of sleep._

_The pull of her partner's instrument was stronger. _'She's calling me.'_ Haruka realized. _

_Readjusting her boxers and tank top, Haruka padded across the stone floor of her room and out through the open balcony. Tiptoeing past the piano, she trailed her fingers across its smooth surface, remembering her confession to Michiru not long ago. The predawn light cast a gray hue across the atmosphere of the moon as the cool morning air nipped at her warm skin. The mists were damp and chilly as she followed the path of music left by her lover._

_When Haruka finally found her, she had to pause at Michiru's beauty. Wearing nothing but one of Haruka's long shirts, the aqua haired woman stood with her back to her, her cobalt eyes closed as she faced the white mountains in the distance, the fog rolling down from its peaks as Michiru obliviously continued her sonata. Haruka stared on dumbly._

_The sun was trying to pierce the fogs as it crested the tops of the mountains on the horizon when Haruka broke free of her trance. The wind enabling her to remain undetected, she crept behind Michiru, gently lacing her arms around the smaller woman's waist. _

_Michiru's cobalt eyes jolted open and her frame shook slightly from surprise, but her music never faltered. "Haruka, what-", she barely managed._

_Haruka smiled knowingly, tightening her hold around her lover. "You tell me, _you're_ the one who called me out here." _

_A smiled tugged at Michiru's mouth as Haruka's lips found the curve of her neck, exposed by her form required to play the violin. She quickly, yet flawlessly brought her song to an early close before turning in the strong arms that had captured her to face her lover._

_/flashback _

'_Again.'_ Haruka thought angrily at the memories of her past life that hounded her. No matter how far she ran, they would always find her. Though part of her wanted to embrace the tender emotions the memory had heralded, another part of her desperately wanted to push them away.

Feeling a level gaze on her, Haruka's eyes darted back to the stage. She was met with a pair of cobalt eyes. The blonde swallowed audibly and quickly diverted her gaze, taking a sip of the bitter orange liquid in her glass, too diluted by melting ice cubes. Nothing would have been strong enough to dilute the memories which plagued her.

"I heard she doesn't make many friends."

Haruka's hazel eyes narrowed as the rumor mill began behind her again. Being at the center of rumors herself, gossip bothered her. But what bothered her more were those stuffy, middle aged sponsors who spoke like they knew her Michiru.

'_My Michiru?'_ Haruka asked herself, immediately pushing away the wave of sudden protectiveness that had surged over her.

"I heard she doesn't make many friends."

"Why is that? She seems very nice."

"They say she dislikes people."

Haruka couldn't help but listen to their words. It seemed that Michiru and herself had much in common socially, but the thought struck her as odd. She remembered the Michiru of her past life as more friendly, always in tune to other's emotions. Yet in this life, she seemed less social, more subdued…

'_Am I holding her back by not being by her side?' _

Haruka snorted as her anger flared. Nonsense. It was all nonsense.

A brilliant crescendo of Michiru's violin captured the audience as Haruka stood from her seat and spun on the gossipy couple behind her. She eyed them dangerously, blaming them for making her think such thoughts. Their mouths clicked shut audibly and Haruka stormed away, needing an escape.

Yet the hazel eyed woman didn't notice that a pair of cobalt eyes followed her departure and that her own lips mouthed Michiru's name breathlessly.

* * *

Michiru took a bow to the subdued yet awed clapping of the audience. She quickly retreated backstage, her heart in her throat as she placed her violin in its case quickly. Utilizing the service exit, she took off in the direction Haruka had retreated. Her eyes wide, her breath panting, she dashed forward blindly.

The long, narrow hallway emptied into a deserted stairwell and for all the fear and urgency Michiru felt, when she found herself looking up at Haruka, who stood several steps above her as she inspected one of her paintings, she somehow managed to regain her composure. How fitting that she would find her in front of her depiction of 'the End of the World', a painting she had composed after her first dream of the silence. She wondered if Haruka would be able to interpret the hidden message it harbored.

The blonde inspected the painting before her critically, understanding its deadly message instantly. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the terror encapsulated in the image. The silence had manifested in her dreams as a vortex of wind and heat. Had Michiru's manifested as freezing waves of impending doom? There was no doubt that her would-be partner had been the artist. Just as she had, ages ago, with her music, Michiru was searching for her through this painting.

"How do you like it?"

Michiru's voice shattered the silence, and although the other woman remained calm, she could sense Haruka's shock at being interrupted. When hazel eyes turned to hers of cobalt, Michiru sensed that the other woman felt trapped. The aqua haired girl did her best to reign herself in, to not push her reluctant lover of the Silver Millennium too far as she had once, long ago.

"You are more than welcome here, genius racer Tenoh Haruka." Michiru tried to level the playing field, ease Haruka's sense of entrapment.

"You know a lot about me, don't you?" An easy smile found Haruka's lips as she struggled to maintain her flippant indifference in the face of the woman she both liked and loathed. Inside, she was shaking as she pretended not to comprehend the woman across from her or the message in her painting. "Did you paint this?"

Michiru cocked an eyebrow, knowing that the blonde had sensed that the painting was hers the moment she had laid eyes on it and that she had also both understood and subsequently refused the painting's message. Michiru decided to try another tactic, she could change subjects just as easily. Their game of aversion was becoming a choreographed dance.

"You're famous, aren't you? In my school, there's lots of your fandom. One of them wants to ride along the coastline in your car, even though she's a girl!" A flip of Michiru's hair thinly veiled her admiration for the other woman as she tested the waters, feeling somewhat vulnerable knowing she was talking about herself.

Haruka smirked. This girl knew her gender. _'But she still pursues me…'_ She pushed away her thoughts as her attention returned to the painting in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore the message Michiru had left in it.

"The end of the world… how can such a pretty girl who wouldn't even hurt a fly paint such a horrible imaginary picture?" She asked detachedly.

Michiru snapped, aqua eyebrows meeting dangerously, a frown marring her features. Her voice became accusatory. "It is not imaginary! I can see it clearly, as can you!" She almost backpedaled as she realized with dismay that she had once again placed Haruka on the defensive. She had pushed too far. She had repeated history.

Hazel eyes darkened threateningly as Haruka retreated to her fallback excuse, using her refusal of her destiny and duty as a crutch. "Ridiculous! I'm Japan's first ever junior racer, Tenoh Haruka! Neither the memory of my previous life nor the end of the world is my business!"

Haruka almost faltered at having revealed to Michiru her knowledge of her past existence, of the knowledge of that which she ran from. She had to fight herself not to avert her eyes from the irresistible woman who wouldn't stop pursuing her. The tension mounted as the two glared evenly at each other.

"If it has to be done, why don't you do it?" Haruka's fingers closed into fists, her knuckles turning white as she continued to run, every single word that came from her mouth the manifestation of both the utter truth and a complete lie, the product of her warring emotions. "I don't want you snooping around me anymore!"

The damage already done, Michiru felt helpless. It was too late. Her emotions frayed, she lost her tightly laced control on the situation. "Stop talking that way! I have a dream to be a violinist! I can't keep on doing stupid things like saving the world from ruin!"

Her words were lies, but as Haruka turned and retreated stormily, she would have said or done anything to make her would-be partner return to her side.

* * *

The night was as warm as her elegant cocktail dress suggested, yet the aqua haired woman held her bare arms across her chest for warmth against a phantom chill.

History had repeated itself at her own hands.

Once again she had allowed her raw emotions to control her and she had pushed a tentative Haruka to the point of running away.

She had run from _her_.

Michiru sighed as her cobalt eyes found the churning ocean beneath her where the restless waters complimented her mood as she stood alone on the stern of the yacht. Night had long since fallen and the moon cast its reflection across the ocean largely. She could hear the sponsors milling about on the deck above, eating their expensive dinners and speaking of inconsequential topics while she, a mere fifteen year old girl, held the weight of the world on her shoulders below them.

Her cobalt eyes narrowed in frustration. Perhaps, in this life, she was destined to bear that weight on her own, without a partner. A single tear slid down the curve of Michiru's cheek. Haruka herself had claimed to have rejected her past life and her obligation to duty. She had failed to help Haruka understand that destiny and duty were not the same, and that neither would bring her hardship as she so obviously believed.

Haruka had rejected _her_.

The slight girl considered the implications. Perhaps in this life, Haruka wasn't meant for the role she had fulfilled in her last. The stubborn woman certainly didn't want it. Michiru had given up her dreams of the future. Her ideals of becoming a prominent violinist and artist had paled once being called to duty to protect the Earth from demise once she had remembered her destiny to be reunited with Haruka. But Haruka hadn't. Haruka wanted her fame and glory, had refused to believe that she was to play any part in a future she wanted no part of.

Michiru began to doubt her hope that any traces of the warm lover she had remembered from centuries past still existed inside her would-be partner. Instead, it seemed that the cold, scared woman that Uranus had become eight hundred years ago was all that was left alive in the Haruka of the present. And if Michiru were to push her further, she feared the result would yield her no change. Further pursuit of her rogue partner would only succeed to scare Haruka further, to ruin the young champion's chances of pursuing the future that she had chosen.

A future without _her_.

Michiru looked deep within herself and came to a saddening conclusion. Ever since she had realized that Tenoh Haruka was the reincarnation of her lover from her past life, she had given Haruka nothing but heartache once pursuing her. The bitter blonde had made it more than obvious that she wanted no part of Michiru, Sailor Neptune, or the future they were meant to share.

Haruka had refused _her_.

Michiru hung her head sadly. A gentle wind swept up from the ocean's stormy surface and caressed her aqua hair. She could almost believe it was pleading with her not to give up. She shook her head resolutely.

"If you love something, you will set it free." Her voice a mere whisper, her heart simply cried.

Even in her desperation, Michiru realized that she would rather face the pain and hardship of facing her duty alone and foregoing her destiny with Haruka than to try to force the woman she loved into doing something that she refused to do. She would spare her would be lover from that which she had refused, she would content herself with loving the memory of Haruka from afar.

She frowned. She would never be _content_. But she would grant Haruka her wish and leave her in peace.

The ocean was upset with her decision. It churned beneath her, rising into swells and slamming into the side of the yacht in anger. Several patrons on the deck above glanced over the railing, wondering what had caused the uneasiness of the seas. Below them, the night's most revered performer collapsed into tears.

* * *

Author's Notes:

As always, special thanks to my KS and beta, YoukaiMusashi!

Thanks also to those of you who continue to review. Please keep it up, there's only one chapter left! I hope the cliffhanger left you wanting for more…

* * *

Preview, Chapter 10:

In her exhaustion from battle, Neptune's power drained from her body like sand through her fingers. A quiet half-chuckle, half-sob escaped Michiru's lips as she was left kneeling in the deserted construction site. Even the powerful ripple that charged the atmosphere and heralded the arrival of an ally couldn't hope to raise her spirits.

"You're a bit late." Michiru said, bitterness lacing her voice as she met her friend's garnet gaze. "You usually show up when I need you the most."

Pluto frowned at her hopeless friend, caught off guard by the frustration in the small woman's voice. "That's precisely why I'm here right now."


	11. 10: All That Would Make Her Whole

A Future Shaped by the Past  
Chapter 10: All That Would Make Her Whole  
By: TruSuprise

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. The views expressed herein are solely those of TruSuprise.  
Yuri disclaimer: This fanfic involves love between two women. If you disapprove such a relationship, do not read further.

Summary: Through the memories of the outer senshi, it is discovered what happened at the end of one era and how it shaped each of them in the future to come.

* * *

Blood splattered across her fuku as the senshi of the ocean destroyed all three youma before her.

As their beastly bodies faded into nothingness, Neptune collapsed onto her knees. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps and sweat dripped from her brow from the half hour effort to defeat the latest youma threat. It was a testament that the monsters were getting stronger, and that, though her own senshi skills had greatly improved, her increased abilities could not make up for her lack of a partner by her side.

Long fingers met her temples soothingly as Neptune reminded herself of the conclusion she had reached a week ago. That, in this life, there was no one to fill the duty of Uranus, that the Haruka of this age was not destined to be by her side. Destiny and duty were two terms that the blackened shell of Uranus didn't seem to understand…

But it didn't matter. Despite the pain her decision had caused her, she had decided to set her would be partner and lover free.

In her exhaustion from battle, Neptune's power drained from her body like sand through her fingers. A quiet half-chuckle, half-sob escaped Michiru's lips as she was left kneeling in the deserted construction site. Even the powerful ripple that charged the atmosphere and heralded the arrival of an ally couldn't hope to raise her spirits.

"You're a bit late." Michiru said, bitterness lacing her voice as she met her friend's garnet gaze. "You usually show up when I need you the most."

Pluto frowned at her hopeless ally, caught off guard by the frustration in the small woman's voice. "That's precisely why I'm here right now."

Michiru averted her eyes in Pluto's deadly serious gaze. In the past week since Haruka had again refused her, Pluto had frequently come to her aid in battle against the nameless youma that heralded a great evil and Michiru had successfully evaded her age-old friend's careful questioning for the entirety of that time. After all, the Guardian of the Time Gate was sure to know the outcome of her no-so-fateful meeting with Haruka. But the look in her friend's eyes now told her that the subject could no longer be avoided.

"Why don't you go to her?" It was more a statement than a question that the formidable Pluto commanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Michiru's brow furrowed as she picked herself up off the ground, a hurtful betrayal lacing her voice. "Haruka made it very clear that she doesn't want me meddling in her life."

Pluto met her friend's defiance. "That was the shell of Uranus talking, not Haruka. You know better, Michiru."

The aqua haired girl snorted, trying for apathy and flippancy but conveying hopelessness. "Look Pluto, neither one of them wants anything to do with destiny or duty. The least I can do is grant Haruka her wish."

Pluto approached her saddened friend slowly. Michiru's despair was complicating matters. It was not Michiru's nature to give up so easily. It appeared that fate was beginning to warp and twist _her_ the same as it had Uranus after Neptune's death at the end of the Silver Millennium. Not only did the fate of the world hang in the balance without the powerful alliance of Neptune and Uranus in this new age, but also the fate of the well being of Pluto's best friends. Her family.

Laying a hand on her fellow senshi's shoulder, the sapphire haired woman walked a thin line to try to help her friend see the error in her ways. "Haruka's wish is null and void. The confusion in Uranus' mind eight hundred years ago obviously distorted such importance as destiny and duty. You can't rely on her to understand it's meaning, you have to _show_ her."

Michiru's mouth clicked shut audibly. Even Pluto suspected as much, and was even urging her to try again. She finally met her ally's garnet eyes to find hope and confidence there.

Pluto smiled. "Wasn't is Uranus herself who asked you not to give up on her?"

"_We're destined to fight this Silence together, you and I. But I'm afraid the Uranus of this time isn't ready to meet you, Neptune, and I'm not sure she will ever be ready. I'm sorry, but please don't give up hope."_

The aqua haired girl gasped. Pluto was right. Uranus _had_ approached her in a dream, in a nightmare future that she, as Neptune, swore to help eliminate. "But…"

The senshi of time went off on a tangent. "Of course, it wasn't just the shell of Uranus who reached out to you, it was the embodiment of who Uranus once _was._ Think about it, Michiru, the _real_ Haruka contacted you then. You know she's still there, hidden behind the walls that the shell of Uranus had constructed eight hundred years after the fall of the Silver Millennium, when she had become distorted to the point of pushing away her destiny and duty. The Haruka who knows and loves you _is_ still there, Michiru."

Michiru couldn't help but be swept up in Pluto's hopeful tirade, becoming lost in her excited expression as her friend's excitement grew. She had already suspected all of this, yet Haruka's refusal to join her had darkened her hope. Even with Pluto's encouragement, doubts still filled her mind. "But Pluto, I don't know how to _get through to_ her."

An honest smile tugged at the ancient woman's lips, confidence in her ally shone in her garnet eyes. "Just be yourself, Michiru."

"Be myself?" The slight woman's brow furrowed as though saying such words for the first time in her life. Such a simple answer to such a complicated problem.

Pluto nodded. "Only by being true to your persona of your past life will you be strong enough to help Haruka to understand that which she needs so desperately in this one."

Michiru stood frozen, rooted to the ground as such implication shook her to her core. Pluto was right, by having modified her approach to dealing with a changed Haruka, how could she ever expect her lover of old to recognize not only who _she_ once was, but who Haruka _herself_ once was? She needed to be her truest self if Haruka was going to remember what they had shared, what they could share once again…

But was she strong enough to face the cold and bitter woman once more?

Suddenly, Michiru's senses went on full alert, every muscle in her body tensed and her cobalt eyes opened wide. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong…

Haruka was in danger.

"Pluto, I-"

The Guardian of the Time Gate nodded knowingly and began to fade from the mundane plane. "Go." She said quietly, her words not even reaching Michiru's ears as the young woman ran, relying on her instincts to guide her.

* * *

The high collar of the fireproof racing suit itched terribly as Haruka detachedly scratched at the back of her neck. Another race had been successfully won hours ago, but still she milled around the garage. Not wanting the company of her competitors, she found herself alone with her thoughts.

_The spotlights turned to the stage, illuminating an elegant, young, aqua haired woman. Resplendent in her ivory gown, her graceful fingers coaxed gentle music from her violin._

Haruka's hands balled into tightly clasped fists as the image of the aqua haired woman again entered her mind unbidden. In the past week since she had seen her last, Haruka's tumultuous thoughts had lingered on Michiru, remembering her beauty and grace just as much as the frightening hidden message buried in her painting that had called her to a duty she had refused. Try as she might to push away all thoughts of she who was associated with completely opposite emotions, Haruka found she had been fighting a loosing battle. She even realized she longed track down the famous violinist, to see her just once more, even if from afar…

Haruka spat viciously at her warring emotions, berating herself for spending so much time and energy on a future that she had already refused.

A future that no matter what her mind had decided, her heart couldn't accept…

Haruka's muscular frame froze as she focused all of her concentration on a struggling voice that just barely caught her attention. As if brought to her on the wind itself, the blonde ran after the distress call that had summoned her.

"Is someone here?" Her brash voice precluded her appearance as she twisted under the half open door of a neighboring garage. Her confident expression slid into one of worry as she examined a lone boy in the middle of the garage. His brown bangs shielding his eyes, he seemed to be in much pain.

"What's up, are you okay?" Haruka's voice sounded alien to her ears, a strong sense of foreboding crashing over her like a wave. Despite the cryptic circumstances, for having felt most of her life as though she were in the wrong place at the wrong time, she found that somehow, she now suddenly felt like she was in the right place at the right time.

"Help!" The young boy struggled hoarsely before collapsing to his knees, grabbing at his chest as his humanoid body changed and shifted. Haruka's breath caught in her throat and she froze in terror as she found herself alone before a hideous monster with too many eyes and too many arms.

"Youma!" She exclaimed.

Falling back to an unknown instinct, Haruka's clammy hands reached for the object nearest her. She acknowledged the comforting weight of a crowbar definitively. She took a confident step towards the frightening monster, the crowbar in her right hand ready to swing when she suddenly remembered the boy the youma had originated from.

The opportunistic monster took advantage of the woman's wavering resolve and lunged at the frozen blonde. Lightening quick reflexes allowed Haruka to raise her makeshift weapon, holding it before her defensively. The youma seemingly smirked at her, its horrid stench closing in on her nostrils as the piece of metal, insufficient to protect her from such a beast, was flung from her grasp.

Her body stiff with fear, Haruka could almost feel the youma's razor like teeth on her skin when a glowing light caught her attention, causing the monster to pull back quickly as if fearful of whatever secrets the light promised.

Before the blonde's wide, hazel eyes hovered the light source, a glowing, ornate rod, an object she had never before seen but somehow understood. With an ancient, seemingly familiar power, it called to her. The world seemed to stop as her hand reached out to the powerful object numbly, the pull she felt from it too great to ignore, as though the rod itself were the key to all that would make her whole…

"Don't!"

A sharp, familiar voice pulled Haruka from her trance and the rod fell from mid air, clattering on the concrete floor with a metallic clang. Haruka's breath caught in her throat as she turned to an aqua haired girl framed by the doorway. The same aqua haired girl she had so desperately longed to see since their last meeting. It was Michiru, and Haruka was spellbound by her beauty.

"Don't touch it!" Michiru urged. "Once you've touched it, you can never return to a normal life!" The aqua haired woman's pained voice conveyed the fact that although she didn't regret becoming a senshi herself, she understood Haruka's resistance.

Haruka felt the urgency from the other woman, felt the pain the very words brought her as she spoke, and knew she was the cause of that pain. It was then, that before her eyes, Michiru's revealed the identity that the other woman had known she had harbored all along.

In the span of a second, though to Haruka it felt numbingly slow, Michiru had raised a rod, similar to the one that she had urged her not to take, and had uttered a phrase so ancient that Haruka could almost remember its origin. The aqua haired girl was engulfed in light and color to be subsequently left in a scant outfit too familiar to be coincidence. Haruka found herself thinking that such an outfit on such a woman would undoubtedly have gotten herself into much trouble…

And yet there she stood in front of her. Sailor Neptune, her would be partner who she had refused not only in her dreams, but in real life. A shiver ran down Haruka's spine, intense emotions of fear and loneliness brought by her image slammed into her like a tangible force and she was left breathless.

Yet, for as much as her mind wanted her to run, her heart kept her feet rooted. Her heart begged her to wait and listen to what Neptune would say, and for once, as if this woman's words may be more important than anything Haruka had ever heard in any life, the blonde complied.

In a blink of an eye, the blonde was pulled from her thoughts as the monster, now recovered, lunged towards them. Neptune took action, and the youma was thrown backwards by the incredible power she possessed, slamming into a wall at the back of the garage to land in a boneless heap.

Although in awe, Haruka remembered the boy that surely still remained in the hideous body of the creature and she latched onto the diversion to keep her thoughts off joining the aqua haired woman. Even as Neptune prepared another attack, she stepped into her way purposefully.

"Stop it!" The blonde's voice echoed in the empty space and both women froze, each questioning the meaning behind such powerful words until she could clarify herself. "This was a human being a little while ago! Are you okay… with killing people?"

The tall woman was passionate, yet unsure. The words that reached her own ears sounded empty, as if some unnamed duty she had once known had demanded such obligation from her, an obligation that she had once willingly accepted…

A duty she had refused in this life.

Neptune's cobalt eyes couldn't quite hold Haruka's hazel gaze and she glanced away somewhat resignedly. She knew that in this life, without the full memories of her last, Haruka would not understand such a terrible necessity for the sacrifice of a few for the good of the whole.

"The silence is approaching." The senshi of the ocean used the nightmare future, the visions she knew they both shared, as a crutch. "If I don't do this, there will be more sacrifices!"

Haruka's eyes narrowed dangerously, her mind trying to interpret too many possibilities, both consciously and subconsciously. Meanwhile, her heart simply urged her to help this woman, to join her battle, to be by her side, as a partner and… something more.

But that would be to accept a convoluted duty she didn't fully understand, a duty that frightened her. There was much she didn't understand… Could this woman with the cobalt eyes who seemed to understand her when she didn't even understand _herself_, have all the answers she needed?

"So you don't choose this way?" Haruka's consciousness didn't understand the question she asked, but her heart did.

And so did Neptune. Sensing that Haruka's subconscious was reaching out, as Uranus' had in a dream so long ago, she had to grab it, had to make the fearful Haruka understand that her duty as a senshi, her destiny as her lover, wasn't a _choice_… it was a requirement. Without each other, neither would be whole. For Michiru, there was no choice about loving Haruka or being Sailor Neptune any more than there was a choice to breathe the air she needed to survive.

"No. I don't choose this way."

Haruka frowned at such a simple answer, and while her heart was ready to accept Neptune's brief, yet powerful reply, her mind rebelled at the implications that she didn't want to accept. How could she throw away her life as she knew it for something that frightened her so? She'd always been alone. She was _meant_ to be that way.

'_No one could love me. I've always been alone.'_ Haruka's negative thoughts dragged her down, reinforced her resolve.

The sound of the youma's scream as it charged was deafening and both women froze in horror when as it rapidly approached. Knowing she had made the same move many times over, instinct guided Neptune and she didn't hesitate as she threw herself in the youma's path. She could see the look of surprise on Haruka's face when she pushed the taller woman out of the way, the force her small frame was able to apply to Haruka's larger one surprising the other woman as the blonde tumbled backwards and into safety. With a detached sense of dread, Neptune felt the teeth and claws of the youma sink into her tender flesh and felt the warmth of her blood as it stained her fuku.

Eyes wide and unbelieving, Haruka watched helplessly as the aqua haired girl took the blow that had been meant for her. A resounding shattering resonance, akin to the beginnings of a structure about to collapse, echoed in her mind as a memory suddenly flooded her senses.

_flashback _

"_Haruka!" Neptune shouted, her arms pushing Uranus' form away from her. She breathed a sigh of relief when the blonde haired woman landed far enough away from her, but she knew there was no time left to save herself. _

_A spark of blinding electricity arched through the sky and the air was suddenly alive with energy. It only took a second for Neptune to fall to the ground, unmoving. It had happened so fast that the aqua haired woman hadn't even had the chance to scream. With wide eyes, Uranus' jaw hung slack, unable to form words as she gaped in disbelief at the sight in front of her. _

_/flashback _

Detachedly, Haruka realized she was reliving the single event in her past life that had shaped her into the person she had become. A person different than the one she was meant to be…

"Deep Submerge!"

At the sound of Neptune's voice laced with pain, Haruka's shaking frame snapped back to reality as she watched the senshi of the ocean deliver a powerful attack to her enemy. The aqua projectile, shaped for the planet she was named for, searched for the creature who had injured its mistress and with a deadly impact, engulfed and obliterated the threat. In the aftermath, the helpless boy from whom the monster had spawned lay unconscious on the floor.

_flashback _

_Uranus found herself crawling on her hands and knees to her partner's fallen body, stunned and unfeeling as the brainwashed humans apathetically marched around and past their fallen forms. Detachedly, she noticed the dark form of the creature in the sky advance without a second glance, yet the shouts and screams of death that emerged from the Moon Palace barely phased Uranus at all as she pulled her partner into her arms gently. _

_/flashback _

A powerful instinct guiding her, Haruka found herself crawling to Neptune where she knelt, exhausted and injured on the garage floor. Numbly, the blonde's arms went out, encircling Neptune in her warm embrace, pulling her back and cradling her injured form to her torso.

The weight of the smaller woman felt familiar in her arms, and as Haruka looked down at the petite form that seemed to fit so perfectly within her embrace, a million images fought for prominence in Haruka's head, each vying for a turn at the forefront of her mind. Slowly, yet surely, the walls and barriers that held the memories of her past life hidden in the recesses of her mind began to break and crack, each memory that surfaced dislodging another formidable brick that held each barrier in place…

The intrigue of an initial meeting with this cobalt eyed woman, a growing friendship, budding love, undeniable passion, a sense of duty as a senshi… all of it laid just beyond the reaches of her full understanding.

"The monster?" Neptune asked, her voice tired and hoarse. The energy drain she had suffered while battling the previous youma battle was quickly catching up to the energy she had expended to save Haruka.

The blonde forced her attention to the woman in her arms. "It's returned to human form, don't worry." Her voice was automatic, her mind elsewhere as the memories of her past life competed for prominence in her crowded head…

Pluto, their best friend and closest ally, Hotaru, the daughter they raised together, the confession love she'd shared with her partner, each word that Neptune spoke brought more memories, good and bad, crashing back to her.

"I almost killed it. I'm sure I'll kill it next time." Past the point of exhaustion, Neptune's own mind began to wander, the pressure of her duty too heavy for her shoulders alone. She didn't want to make sacrifices any more than Haruka did, but it was a reality of her duty. "It isn't easy, but I chose to become a senshi."

"Then, why did you protect me?" Haruka's searching voice asked with a hint of desperation. Although the memories of her past life had showed her otherwise, in this life, no one had ever done such a thing for her. Certainly she hadn't felt as though she had done anything to deserve such kindness. She instantly regretted all she had done to this woman when time and again, Neptune had put her life on the line for her. Just as she had in their past lives…

"If you hurt your hands, you can't be a violinist." Haruka fell back on any excuse she could find instead of speaking her confused feelings.

Michiru smiled smally. "I didn't snoop around just because you're a senshi. Before I knew that you were the one… " The aqua haired girl finally looked up at the blonde, her voice less desperate, more hopeful as she reminisced. "I was watching you during a race. I always wanted to ride in your car along the coastline just once…"

Haruka's arms unconsciously tightened around Neptune's form when she revealed the truth of the statement she had issued not long ago. Michiru had been speaking about herself. This woman had been watching over her for so long, trying to help her, trying to connect with the half of herself she had been missing, and Haruka had only pushed her away.

Michiru's voice broke hoarsely. "You never asked any favors of anyone. You're always faithful to your feelings." Her eyes glassed over, remembering Haruka's strength during the Silver Millennium, confusing the incarnations of her lover in her exhaustion.

"I'm not faithful, I'm always running away." A ghost of a smile spread across Haruka's lips as she tried to reconcile the two sides of herself, her two separate personas, now made apparent with her newfound memories. The carefree, easy lover of what was called the Silver Millennium and the bitter, blackened woman she had become in this life. Still, the event that had changed her so still lay hidden from recognition, still locked behind one last formidable barrier that continued to urge her to run from the woman in her arms.

Her eyes searched Neptune's, trying to see beyond the love they once shared, to see what this woman saw in her in _this_ life. What kept her coming back after each refusal she had suffered? Was it an obligation to duty? A shiver ran down Haruka's spine at the thought and she fought with herself not to release the woman in her arms to the unforgiving floor.

It was then that she flinched, feeling the warm blood that seeped through Neptune's fuku. Blood she had shed for her. More memories of their life as senshi came flooding back to Haruka and her fingers tightened around Neptune's arms.

Holding her partner's limp body, feeling her blood, seeing her exhaustion, Haruka remembered that Neptune's greatest strength wasn't just physical. _'She always was the strongest of the two of us.'_

Neptune sighed. Feeling a mixture of anxiety and hope, she understood that Haruka was reliving her memories yet she kept her silence, wanting the headstrong blonde to reach her own conclusions. It was always one of the traits Haruka had loved best about her, that, for all Michiru's constant support, she also knew when to give Haruka her space when absolutely necessary.

"I know more about you than you do, because I watch you all the time." Neptune finally explained in response to Haruka. "I don't want you to take the same way I took." Finally reaching a parallel with her persona of the past by both laying her feelings on the line openly and without reservation _and_ giving Haruka the space she needed, Neptune hoped that Haruka would be able to do the same.

And if not… she was still willing to set her lover of the past free.

A smile pulled at Neptune's lips and though her eyes held much physical pain, a slight blush colored her cheeks. "Still, I was happy when I found out that you were the one…" Exhaustion taking over her fully, she finally realized the lack of response from Haruka. Not knowing if she had succeeded in either setting the shell of Uranus free, or helping the wayward Haruka to remember her true persona, tears came to Neptune's eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk about it… sorry."

Haruka's blank expression softened slightly as a tear slid down Neptune's cheek. Here was the woman who had frightened her, crying over her, crying _for_ her. _'How could I have ever felt fear for this woman who has loved me so?'_ She asked herself.

As she watched the gentle tear slide down Neptune's cheek, fragments of her past life continued to come together in Haruka's mind. People, places, things, emotions, all of them linking with the visions she'd had in weeks past to form a chronological timeline of a life gone by. From beginning to end, her memories sketched and further defined the Haruka of the Silver Millennium, who she once was, who she should have been in this life, too.

'_Only, why am I so different?'_

That was when Haruka realized that she hadn't reached the end of her timeline at all, that for her, there was life beyond Neptune's death.

Her frame shook involuntarily as eight hundred years of loneliness crashed over her and from almost a third perspective, Haruka watched her own slow deterioration into the shell of Uranus, saw what her mind had done to itself. How she had warped the very meanings of that which had made her who she was; destiny and duty.

In her own warped mind after Neptune's death, the two had become affiliated with pain and fear, a self defense mechanism to protect herself against further pain as she wandered the universe alone… but it was this warping of that which had eased her suffering that was also that which had also destroyed her. In her twisted mind, duty had become the destructive force of Metallia who had taken all she had held dear, and destiny was what had made living on without her partner so unbearable…

From such a detached standpoint, Haruka realized what she had done to herself and in such a revelation, it was once again revealed to her wayward mind the importance that destiny and duty truly held for her. In reality, it was duty that had brought her strength and confidence as an outer senshi once being coupled with the powerful force that was Neptune, and it was destiny that had brought her love in the form of Michiru.

It was then that she realized that the woman in her arms, the reincarnation of her lover past, was the one embracing _her_. Neptune. Michiru. And she realized that although the last eight hundred years of her past life and the entirety of her current life had been painful and difficult, it was her partner of old who suffered now. She suffered because Haruka was not at her side. She suffered because they did not share that closeness of partners… the closeness of _lovers_.

The only way to right the wrong she had caused in her past was to right her future.

A small smile touched Haruka's lips as her hazel eyes traced the lines of the aqua haired woman's face, already so familiar. This woman would always be there for her, with her, at her side. Somehow, she knew she had nothing left to fear.

With a resounding crash, the last of the walls that the devastated Uranus had built around her heart collapsed as Haruka made her decision. She knew it would take time to fully adopt the carefree nature of her original persona, but she knew that with Michiru's help, she could do it. She could once again become the woman that Michiru, that Neptune, needed.

Now, Haruka was ready to embrace her duty as the senshi of Uranus. She was ready to embrace her destiny by Michiru's side, for now she knew that it was only the partnership and love they shared that could make them both whole again.

Haruka's eyes returned to the metal rod that had fallen on the garage floor, the rod that, in her selflessness, Michiru had urged her not to accept. Never losing her hold on the woman in her arms, her hand reached out for the now familiar henshin rod. Grasping the smooth alloy in her hand, she sighed contently at its weight and familiarity. Resolute and determined, with no doubt left in her mind, Haruka knew it was time to embrace herself, to return to that which made her who she was.

Determined hazel eyes caught hold of nervous and exhausted ones of cobalt. "Thank you." Haruka's voice was quiet and calm.

"For what?" Neptune's confusion mingled in her exhaustion.

"For freeing me from my barriers." The golden haired woman responded slowly, a small, soft smile on her angular face.

She felt the breath of the woman in her arms catch in her throat, felt the quickening heartbeat beneath her injured ribcage. The look of hope and happiness indicated in the widening smile on Neptune's face produced a toothy grin on Haruka's own.

'_It'll be different in this life, in this darker time, after the tragedy that occurred eight hundred years ago. But perhaps with this woman by my side, we can forge a new love, one based on the success of our past, for it's she who represents my future.'_ Haruka nodded her own confirmation, _'Definitely.'_

Haruka's eyes shut lightly. A bright warmth filled her as the ancient words came to her, triggering a powerful transformation. With a rush of power brought by the wind itself, she was once again in tune with her element, in tune with herself. She was once again Uranus, a vital piece of her persona. She was ready to join her partner, and hopefully, her lover, of the new millennium.

Sailor Uranus rose to her feet. The woman in her arms seemingly light as a feather, she set her partner down carefully, holding Neptune's shaky frame to her own for support. No words were needed between them as they laced their fingers together, each staring at the other, each reading the world of emotions in the others eyes.

'_One thing I know for certain… my heart already beats for her.' _

* * *

Author's Notes:

Special thanks as always to my beta and KS, YoukaiMusashi. Thanks also to her Baka Tropical and her baby, Osiris. It's been YM's constant support and endless DYG's that kept this story rolling. Thanks, girl!

Endless thanks also to everyone who took a moment to review this story. Each and every one of your comments touched me and kept my updates timely. I really enjoyed writing this story and enjoyed even more sharing it with all of you!

Next, I plan to post the entirety of the Silver Millennium in a chronological timeline, in case anyone would like to read it uninterrupted.

As for the future, I've already begun work on another Haruka/Michiru piece. Think A/U, darker and more mature and witty. I'm not sure if it'll be a short one shot or it I'll expand it into an actual plot driven story. Stay tuned!

A quick word to all the other fanfic writers out there: thanks for taking time away from your stories to read and review mine. A fellow writer's review means a lot and a well written critique means even more. As you read each other's works, try to let the author know not only what you liked about what you read, but what you think they can improve on. Remember, keep writing every day and keep reading. Everything you absorb shapes your own style and improves your own skill. Keep it up, everyone; there are some great authors out there!


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